Lost Soul
by MusicChannySkyscraper
Summary: Sonny Munroe is obsessed with Chad Dylan Cooper. He's irresistable, he's heroic, he's a total charmer... but he's a character in a book. But what happens when she meets him... for real? Soon, Sonny realises she is in danger around him, and with the mysterious 'S.O.U.L.' after Chad, she finds that she must help him get back inside the book, before they track him down...
1. Story

**A/N: Well, here it is, guys! My new story that I've been blabbin' about - Lost Soul. I must say, I am totally excited for it.**

**I got inspiration for it from a book I recently read called "The Vampire Stalker". It's great - totally suited to all us fan-girl fall-in-love-with-a-character types. Lol ;D But, because I feel it's overdone, my story will be nothing to do with vampires. It'll be more based on the idea of a girl's favourite character leaving his book and coming to her world... yes, be excited ;D**

**Oh, by the way, guys. The big loads of italic text are from the book within the book, which is coincidentally also called 'Lost Soul' ;D**

**Okay, let's get on with the story! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonny with A Chance.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Lost Soul**

**Chapter 1 - Story**

_I ran. Ran as fast as I could, through the trees, through the forest that was now so scary to me, when only a few days ago this place was a safe haven. That's what he instructed of me – run, and don't look back. No matter what you hear, no matter what you think._

_Run._

_I should've known getting close to Chad Dylan Cooper was a dangerous idea. My Mom always seemed so tense around him, like she could feel a bad air about him. My friends were also suspicious – watching his every move, whispering whenever he walked by or walked away. Even he, himself told me he was trouble – a danger to anyone who was close. _

_I always questioned him when he told me that. I asked him why he was so much trouble when he seemed harmless to me. When we first met, he wasn't dangerous at all; he was kind of shaky, hesitant. He kept turning his head to look around; he was jumpy, he was cautious. _

_He was afraid. _

_He always told me that he wasn't a good person, that he could hurt me if I got too close. That was something I could never believe. No matter how jumpy, or egotistical, or rude, or down-right annoying he could be… he was no threat to me, to my safety._

_And I actually believed that. For two whole months. Now, I was beginning to question it all. _

_Everything fell out of place when he ran up to me, a raging look in his eyes._

"_You're part of it, aren't you?!" He screamed at me, the fire burning in his usually cool, blue eyes, "You're helping them! You want to bring me down!"_

_My mouth dropped open. For an uncountable number of seconds, I couldn't speak. I was dumbfounded. I had no idea what he was talking about._

"_Wh-what do you mean?" I managed to say after a while. I'll never forget that flash of pure anger in his blue eyes…_

"_You're a spy, for S.O.U.L. I know you are! They told me…"_

"_Chad, I have no idea what you're talking about!" I yelled back, but he was forceful. He grabbed my wrists, squeezing them tightly. It took everything I had not to scream out in pain. _

"_Please, don't lie to me, Monica!" He growled at me, the rage fading from his voice and the desperation clear, "You have no idea what I'm capable of – what _they _made me capable of. Don't you _dare _lie to me!"_

_I grabbed his hands (which were shaking vigorously), breathing slowly, trying to calm him down, and he held me back. His grip on my hands was excruciatingly painful – I'd found in the short time that I'd known him that he was remarkably strong. "Chad…" I murmured softly to him, "Chad, Chad… I would never spy on you…"_

_He snapped his hands away from me, his eyes clouded. "How can I be so sure?" He asked me. I could tell, even though he was still angry at me, in his voice there was a slither of hope that I'd pull through for him. _

_I took his hands back into mine and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Just trust me." I whispered to him, "I care about you. I'd never do that to you."_

_He shuddered a little, and began groaning in a low grumble. Then he froze, his eyes were wide, like a deer caught in headlights, like he could… sense something was wrong. I began to panic. What had him so spooked…?_

"_Monica." He whispered softly. "Run."_

_I blinked, "Why?"_

"_Just do it." He said, "_Now. _Run, and don't look back."_

"_There he is!" A low voice screamed from behind Chad. I looked over his shoulder and gasped – a group of five men were running in our direction, all wearing dark clothing and sunglasses, all looking furious. Chad clenched his fists and snarled. He closed his eyes, breathing slowly._

"_Go." He said, his voice barely a whisper as he opened his eyes and watched me. I obeyed this time, walking backwards speedily, watching as one of the men, the fastest, approached Chad from the back. Chad finally stopped staring at me and turned, slowly. So slowly. I watched, the tension terrifying me. Suddenly, Chad grabbed the man's wrist and growled at him, like an animal, before throwing him at a tree like he was nothing but a sack of feathers. _

_I gasped sharply, backing away slowly. Oh my goodness…_

"_Get the girl!" One of the men yelled, over the grunting and screaming and fighting._

_That's when I bolted._

"Miss Munroe!"

"Huh?"

My head darted up from its down-facing position, and I looked around, shocked to see all the faces staring at me. I smiled at them each sheepishly. I'd almost forgot where I was – in school, in algebra class, reading a book secretly under the table. For the last twenty minutes, I had been far too engrossed in the world of Monica Baxter – the main female character in the book entitled _Lost Soul; _the girl who fell unconditionally in love with the male protagonist in the book. See, that's one thing Monica and I share – our absolute love for Chad Dylan Cooper.

Ah… Chad Dylan Cooper… the definition of _perfection. _He's dark, he's mysterious, he's arrogant, he's strange… but he is also _extremely _good-looking, caring, charming, and down-right _remarkable. _He's every girl's dream… I _wish_ every day that I could date him.

His one flaw? He is a character. In a _book. _Which means that I can't date him, because, oh yeah – he's not _real._

_Damn it._

"Miss Munroe?" The same voice as before tugged me out of my thoughts again. My algebra teacher – Mrs Cody. She glared at me over the rim of her glasses with her sharp green eyes, and I smiled at her gingerly. "What are you doing?" She asked me.

"Nothin', Miss." I lied carefully. She just continued to freakily glare at me.

"Put the book _away, _Miss Munroe." She demanded sternly. My cheeks flushed red as I noticed every pair of eyes in the room on me, and I put _Lost Soul _back in my bag and smiled a wide smile at Mrs Cody. I heard a whisper behind me, before a few girls broke out in a fit of quiet giggles. I swallowed hard and told myself not to turn around. I was being stupid… they _weren't_ laughing at me. Not again. I refused to believe the nagging in the back of my mind that Gemma and her friends were whispering about me _again. _I mean, just because I was not as pretty or popular or thin as them, and just because I was sat all on my own whilst they were huddled in a solid group of four, and just because I hadn't had as many boyfriends or friends as they did, and just because I was a little obsessed with some '_silly little book'_…

That didn't mean they were whispering about _me. _

_Nope._

And yet, the laughing just continued, so I took a deep breath, counted to ten, and tried to listen to Mrs Cody's jabbering.

"Anyway…" Mrs Cody turned her back away from me and started writing some random equation up on the board. I still felt a little self-conscious – the girls behind me were still whispering and giggling. I felt one of them poke a perfectly-manicured finger in the back of my head, and I gasped in shock, biting back the tears as they laughed again. I was astounded that Mrs Cody hadn't noticed the problem, but then, she was just an old bat who seemed to hate my guts. Besides, she was far too focused on her mind-blowingly confusing equation.

The whispering behind me continued. I felt my shoulders tense involuntarily and I blinked back the tears again, repetitively to make sure they didn't come back. That didn't stop the pain though.

"What a freak-show!" I heard Gemma whisper behind me, before the girls exploded with laughter. About half the class turned their heads to them, and I turned to face the wall beside me so that no-one noticed I was close to tears. I didn't want to draw any more attention to myself.

"Quiet, please, girls." Mrs Cody said semi-sternly, not turning away from the board. _Seriously_? I thought, annoyed. _That's all they get? _

Despite Mrs Cody's weak threat, the girls continued to make a mockery of me. I bite my lip as one of them flicked my ear, and my hands balled into fists, my humiliation turned into anger.

"Ooh, naughty girl, Allison!" Gemma sneered behind me, "Don't start throwing a hissy fit; you'll get in trouble again." Her tone was completely patronising. It sounded like she was talking to a five year old, and I did not like being talked to like that. I hated being patronised, especially by Gemma.

And so that is why I erupted.

"Shut up, Gemma!" I whisper-yelled, turning back to face her. I'd managed to gain enough self-control to not scream obscurities at her, but I hoped my tone was hostile enough to warn her away. Gemma raised an eyebrow at me, flicking a strand of light brown hair back. She pursed her blood-red lips at me, smirking.

"Temper, temper!" She tutted, elbowing the girl next to her – Scarlett – whose name fit perfectly with her dark-ish ginger hair… and her anger troubles. Right now though, she was smirking at me, not angered but more amused. I hated the fact that _they _found this entertaining.

"If you don't stop now, I will seriously-"

_"Girls!"_

Mrs Cody's shrill voice scared me. I snapped my neck back around to see her scowling right in my face. "Miss Munroe," She addressed me first, "Nice to see you paying attention. Could you possibly tell me, how to solve the simultaneous equation on page 17, exercise B-one?"

Shaky, I turned to the page on my book. I looked at the equation on the page with horror and felt a headache come on. Oh no… algebra was _not _my best subject. I was more of a Drama, Art, English, and Music kind of girl. I was creative. I wasn't _smart, _unlike Gemma, who seemed to get straight A's across the board even though her attendance was possibly the worst in the whole school.

I envied how annoyingly _perfect_ she was. Maybe it was because she was such a kiss-up to the teachers. Yup.

_2x + y = 7, 3x - y = 8_… the letters and numbers on the page terrified me. I was almost certain that I had dyslexia, even though doctors had told me otherwise. Or maybe it was just the fact I was terrified, because a billion eyes (or close to that) were on me, waiting for my response.

"Um… x equals twelve?" I said hesitantly. Gemma sounded like she was choking behind me. I just wished the choking would kill her. Or at least scare her so much that she would stop being mean forever.

Mrs Cody sure wasn't making it easy for me. "Incorrect." She snapped, before smiling at Gemma, whose hand was stuck up in the hair. "Gemma?" She said kindly.

Gemma smirked cockily, "x equals three," She said, shooting me a spiteful look, "and y equals one." **  
**

I scowled as Mrs Cody's face lit up. "Well done." She looked down at me pointedly, before poking a finger at the both of us, "Both of you though… pay attention next time."

"Yes, Miss." Gemma drawled, rolling her eyes behind the ancient teacher's back, before she began smirking at me again. "So, tell me, Book Worm." She cooed. She almost made herself sound _friendly. _Ugh. "How's that little crush of yours?"

I blushed crimson, hiding my bag underneath my chair and tucking it between my legs. Once, a few weeks ago, Gemma found (cough, stole, cough) my school diary, where I'd unconsciously wrote '_Mrs Chad Dylan Cooper_' in my loopy handwriting, along with a big fat heart and a bundle of kisses. Needless to say I suffered the humiliation for another two weeks after she spread the news around school that I was a crazed addict of the _Lost Soul _book and I was classed as completely mental for fancying a guy who didn't even exist.

Ugh. And that's when I went from the quiet, artsy girl who doesn't speak much to the nerdy/artsy, quiet yet weird, crazed bookworm/fan-girl.

Yippee.

"I don't have a crush on a boy." I told her. Well, it was kind of the truth. I didn't have a crush on a boy. Well, not a _real _boy anyway…

She snorted behind me, before getting up out of her seat and sitting in the empty seat next to me, giving me a very fake, bright smile. I tried to pay attention to Mrs Cody's lesson, but Gemma continued to stare at me, her green eyes burning a hole in me. I started to feel very irritable.

"What do you _want_, Gemma?" I asked rudely. Her grin just got wider. I watched her for a few seconds out of the corner of my eye, while I did a few of the exercises Mrs Cody had written on the board. Sure, they were difficult, but I'd rather do those than watch Gemma's freaky stare.

After a long while, Gemma spoke, still wearing that creepy smile.

"Gimme the book." She said in a strangely nice tone. I groaned, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"No." I mumbled, trying to keep my eyes down on my exercise book, but still having one eye focused on her. Gemma's stare reminded me of those freaky bug-eyed cartoons from my childhood. She held out a hand under my nose, waiting.

"Give me. The book." She said, a lot slower this time. "I'm _telling _you."

"And I'm telling_ you_… _No._"

But the girl was relentless. She peered under the table, right at my bag, and before I could react, she snaked her arm around my chair leg and into my bag. She fished _Lost Soul _out after a few seconds with a triumphant smirk.

Now, I'm a defensive girl. I also hate it when people invade my personal space, or when someone tries to steal my stuff. Who doesn't? So, can you really blame me for what I did next?

"Gimme that _BOOK!"_

I dived at Gemma, sending both her and her chair toppling to the floor. People screamed and laughed around us while Mrs Cody demanded that we separated and went to the Principal's office immediately. I ignored her, of course, determined to get my book back.

Yup. No-one crosses Sonny Munroe.

…

Of course… I guess I should've seen it coming, but Mrs Cody had us both march down to the Principal's office. She confiscated my book, saying it was nothing but trouble, and gave it to the Principal. When Principal Matthews asked for the story, Gemma said that it was all my fault and that she was just a victim in our little fight. Oh, yeah, right. _I _wasn't the one who was laughing at and mocking a poor, innocent girl. _I _wasn't the one who tried to steal _her _book or anything… and I'm _certainly_ not the one who bit the other person. No, I mean it – I _swear_ she bit me.

But that didn't stop Principal Matthews believing her, because, of course – _everybody_ loves Gemma.

_Ugh_.

And so now _I_ was being punished, waiting outside the Principal's office, an hour after the final bell, while Principal Matthews called my mother to tell her to come and pick me up.

Great.

I watched the clock on my phone change to 4:00pm, and almost as if it were her cue, Principal Matthews strode out of her office and looked down at me, tucking a strand of blonde hair that had fallen out of her loose ponytail behind her ear.

"Your mother is coming for you, Miss Munroe." She told me, frowning. I knew she was disappointed in me – I'm not a girl to usually get in a fight, and I was totally innocent in the subject anyway. But of course, as always, even Matthews believed Gemma over me.

I despise that girl…

My Mom stormed through the doors a few minutes later, while I was being lectured on how it is wrong to fight. It's also wrong to bully, but did Gemma get lectured on that?

Nope.

"Allison Munroe…" My mother's angry voice shocked me – she's hardly ever angry. No, I mean it. I'm just that much of a goody-goody that my mom has basically _never _needs to shout at me. Maybe back when I was five, playing near a road and nearly chased a butterfly out into where a car was heading my way, but then that wasn't an angry shout. That was a protective shout – all mothers have those protective shouts for their children, I'm sure.

But this? This was no protective shout.

Nuh-uh.

Principal Matthews turned to my mother and tried for a friendly smile, but my mother didn't seem to take it too well. She folded her arms at the polite principal and frowned.

"What, exactly…" My Mom sighed, placing a hand tiredly on her forehead. "What did she do?" I winced as my mother was told the story (I'd heard the whole thing, like, _fifty_ times already…), before the Principal finally finished. My Mom nodded slowly, exhaling exhaustedly, and took my hand and dragged me towards to door, giving me no choice but to follow her.

"Thank you, Mrs Matthews." She shouted back to the woman, who I smiled at sheepishly before following my mother out of the door.

The ride home was silent. Horribly, awkwardly silent. I was sat in the passenger seat of my Mom's small, red Volvo, letting my eyes wander while tapping out a rhythm on my lap. I just kept trying to get my mind off the storm that was certainly going to start the moment we stepped into our little Hollywood apartment.

We'd moved from Wisconsin to Hollywood a few years ago, after Gran died and Mom decided it was time for a fresh start. She had an excuse for our moving, as she did for everything – she said I was a skilled musician and was bound to get picked up by a record producer much more easily in Hollywood than in cosy little Appleton, Wisconsin. It had always been my dream to be a singer, and I guess Mom jumped at the chance. We could get away from Wisconsin – the small towns, the constant reminders of Gran, not to mention the fact that my father – her ex-husband – lived down the road and was always asking for something or other. It was pretty disgusting to watch him always come back even though Mom ended the relationship when I was ten. Dad didn't even love her – he just wanted some money because he and his stupid new girlfriend couldn't cope on their own.

Ugh.

I continued to blabber on and on in my mind about Wisconsin – my stupid father, my friends, my family, how much I missed them all (bar Daddy, of course), whilst trying to avoid the glares my mother sent me every so often.

Once again. _Ugh_.

We arrived home a few minutes later. Mom stalked up to our block of apartments, and I followed gingerly, slinging my school bag over one shoulder. When we got to the right apartment, Mom fit the key into the lock and swung the door open. I rushed straight into my room as she took a breath, avoiding having to talk about what happened.

Of course, I had nowhere to hide when dinner came along.

We were sat in complete silence, which was totally unnatural for us. We usually talk about the day's events. Of course, Mom knew my day's most important event already, so there was really no point.

"Really, Sonny…" She sighed at one point, dropping her knife and fork on her almost-empty plate, "What were you thinking? Getting in a fight?"

I groaned, "Mom, it was for a good reason!"

Obviously, my mother didn't see my little 'fight' as a heroic rescue of my book (and what was left of my dignity). She saw it as just rowdy behaviour, just like everyone else. I once again refrained from mentioning that Gemma bit my arm. It wouldn't have helped in my case any, cos Mrs Cody saw me kick her in the face.

Ha ha ha, it was so worth it though.

"Allison Munroe…" She sighed, "You cannot fight people! C'mon, Sonny, you never fought anyone in Wisconsin!"

_Maybe because no-one in Wisconsin was as bad as Gemma… _

Obviously, I accidentally said that thought aloud, because my mother just groaned.

"Stop letting this girl get to you." She demanded.

"Mom, you don't understand!" I accidentally began to yell, "Gemma is a nightmare! And it's not just Gemma – no-one in that school likes me! I hate it there – I have _no _friends."

My mom seemed a little shocked at this, "You have friends." She said quietly. I shook my head, angry.

"Mother, I don't." I complained.

"What – what about that Tawni girl? And her friends?" Mom asked. Tawni was a girl I met in a café when we first arrived in Wisconsin. She became, like, my best (and only) friend in the whole damn state, and then she introduced me to her friends – Nico, Grady, Mel, and Zora.

"They're cool, but one problem – they don't go to my school. Tawni's home-schooled, and everyone else goes elsewhere. Zora's planning to come to my school, but she's still in middle school."

Mom's shoulders slumped, and she decided to drop the subject.

"Just be more careful." She told me, as I got up from my seat with a half-finished plate of food in my hand. She frowned at me, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Not hungry." I told her quietly, "In fact… I'm going out for a walk." I dumped the plate down in the kitchen, placing cling film over it in case I was hungry when I got home. I then picked up my silver handbag and my phone, placing it in my bag. Mom's eyes hadn't left me since the moment I got up. I shot her a friendly smile, or at least attempted to.

"I'll be back later." I told her.

"You're not going anywhere." She commanded. I just rolled my eyes and walked out the door, closing it before she could yell at me again.

* * *

It had been 20 minutes since I left the house, and I was now casually strolling along a nature trail by the park. It was quite a pretty scene – trees lined the barely made-out path, draping above my head, hiding me from the moonlight. Some of the trees had fairy lights in them, which were my only source of light. I exhaled loudly as I collapsed onto one of the many benches along the path, there for those walkers who needed a rest. But me? I just sat to have a think. Just in between two tree's branches, I could see the moonlight. I smiled a little, before deciding that I was in the perfect, peaceful place, where I could finally enjoy my book.

I fished _Lost Soul _out of my handbag, content with the fact that the fairy lights in the tree lit up my book so I could see the words clearly. I didn't want to use my phone as a light – it was awkward to hold them both at the same time – I'd tried it before. You really need three hands to do that **(A/N: she speaks the truth…)**.

I engrossed myself immediately into the world of Monica Baxter once more…

_**Chapter 16**_

_**Special Treatment**_

_I didn't know what had happened, but I woke in a completely different place to where I'd fallen asleep. All I could remember was running – just like Chad had commanded of me – until I collapsed in a heap near a big, old oak tree. I was unsure of whether the men were still chasing me or not, but when I adjusted my eyes to see that I was in a prison-like cell, I realised that they must've found me. _

_Before I could fully take in my surroundings, I noticed a dark-haired man wearing sunglasses stood behind the bars. Or in front of them, seeing as I was the one imprisoned in the tiny cell. He smiled at me, with fake friendliness. I had no recollection of why I'd been arrested – a young girl, running through a forest – what I was doing wasn't really a crime – but then I realised that, judging by his suit, this man was not a police officer. I tried to build up the energy to ask him what the heck was going on, but I suddenly sat up and a headache came on immediately. I groaned, placing a hand against my aching cranium._

"_You're awake." The man commented, "We didn't think you'd sleep for so long. You must've really tuckered yourself out – we found you about three miles away from where we lost Chaddy boy."_

_I gulped, "Wha…?" I mumbled, still not fully awake. His grin grew. _

"_Don't worry – we didn't kill him… yet, that is. We thought we'd play around with him a little, first. That's why we told him you were part of our little organisation, you see – what would he think if his poor, sweet girlfriend was really working against him?"_

_I winced – whether it was from the pain of my headache, the pain of the man's words or the annoyance that Chad wasn't _really _my boyfriend, I wasn't entirely sure. _

"_You told him that?" The man nodded. "__Wh – what are you going to do to me?" I asked him, my voice coming out hoarse. He smirked._

"_Don't worry… we'll take good care of you. What would dear Chad say if we killed you? I don't think that's exactly what the boss wants – he couldn't hurt his poor little nephew that bad. I think he's going to kill you after he's bunked off Chad."_

_I gulped, and my gut churned. So his uncle really was behind this? Chad had told me so many times of the story – how his mother had abandoned him, his father had died, his uncle had then got custody because he was only thirteen at the time and ended up treating him like crap. Obviously there was more to this story that Chad ever let on, though. It wasn't just a normal family fallout – his uncle wanted to murder him. My heart rate sped up erratically, and my head began to spin uncontrollably. The man seemed to notice my terror._

"_Don't you worry, little girl." He told me, "We'll take good, _good_ care of you. We don't want you hurt when Chaddy comes, do we? If you're damaged, he's much less likely to agree to our little proposition."_

"_What is your proposition?" I asked. He tapped his nose, the grin growing again._

"_That is none of your business, Missy. It is just between the boss and your boyfriend. Don't worry – we have someone out on the job who will lead him right here."_

_I winced again – I hated how this man was talking. The sweetness just made everything he was saying so much scarier._

"_Sleep well." He told me, moving out of the way of the door. Another man walked into my cell. This man was wearing a lab coat, and was holding a needle. I flinched._

_I really hate needles._

_I tried to protest, but the man stabbed me before I could, and I immediately felt my whole body go numb and so much heavier. My eyelids closed without my command, and as I demanded he released me, my voice was incredibly slurred. I groaned. _

_They'd drugged me._

"_Ch- Chad will c-come find m-me." I mumbled. I was only just aware of the man with sunglasses' arrogant smirk._

"_That's the idea." He told me, before my eyes shut completely and I drifted into sleep._

…

_**SNAP!**_

I slammed my book shut, my eyes suddenly wide and alert. I looked around, a little scared by the snapping I'd just heard. I was worried that an animal was approaching me, and so I decided to head towards the more public area of the park. The path was an actual path – not just a load of mud. But it seemed like I was still the only one around. I continued to walk, deciding to just get home, until I heard the snapping noise again and froze on the spot. I gulped – what if it was some kind of mutant fox or lion that had escaped from a local zoo?

Shaking, I turned around to see a figure stood about 20 feet away.

I went numb as I realised – this was a man.

And the man… was looking at me.

I turned on my heels, pretending I hadn't seen him, and I speed-walked quickly away from him. Small footfalls behind me alerted me to the fact that he _was _following me. Terrified, I fished my phone out of my pocket and called the first person I could think of.

"Tawni." I sighed in relief as she answered with a confused 'hello?'.

"Everything okay, Sonny?" She asked me. I tried to sound as natural as possible, but I lowered my voice so the man couldn't hear me.

"Please can you pick me up?" I asked her, "I'm in the park."

"Why can't your Mom do it?" She moaned lightly. I grumbled, not having the time to explain.

"Just do it!" I cracked, squeaking a little. Tawni groaned, annoyed, saying she'd be there soon, and I hung up, looking behind me as casually as possible.

He was still there.

I could make him out now – he seemed a few feet closer. I shuddered – he looked so shady. He was wearing a dark hoodie that covered his face completely. His hands were behind his back, and I flinched as I realised that he might be hiding something there.

I kept walking, as fast as I possibly could, before I unnaturally broke out into a sprint.

Only problem is – so did the man.

And, unluckily for me – he was so much faster than a sixteen year old girl in old, tattered sandals.

I felt someone grab my handbag, which was swinging behind me, and I let out a small scream. He pulled me closer to himself and covered my mouth with his hand, and I realised protesting was really quite pointless. I could tell by his tight grip on my waist that he was so much stronger than me, and that I really wasn't going anywhere.

"Right." He said into my ear, "Let's get this over with."

I couldn't stop shaking. All I could think was…

_I'm dead._

* * *

**A/N: Ooooohhh, what did you guys think, huh? This is totally different compared to some of my other multichaps - it's past tense rather than present tense. I've proofread this a bunch of times, so if there are any mistakes you can throw a fish at me. :P**

**Soooo, please review! I'd love to see what you guys think of this, if I should continue it, et cetera. **

**I'll post again soon! See y'all later :)**

**~Amy x**


	2. Meeting Him

**A/N: Whoa, guys! Thanks for your awesome reception to this story! I'm glad you all enjoyed the first chapter, and so, I've decided to post today considering I had this chapter all done and ready and you all were so nice at welcoming m'new baby into the FanFiction world :P**

**Guest - Aww, thank you! Both the English and non-English part of your review was really sweet :P**

**Well, I suppose I got nothin' else to say, but enjoy the chapter!**

**DC: No, I do not own Sonny with A Chance. Sorry 'bout that. :P**

* * *

**Lost Soul**

**Chapter 2 - Meeting Him**

Chapter 2

Time moved so slowly. I was horrified – the man let go of my mouth, but his hand was still wrapped around my waist, gripping it tightly. He spun me round to face him, and I let out a little yelp in terror. His face was dark, shadowed by the hood that still covered his eyes.

"Okay, Miss." He said. I noticed that his voice was low – dangerously low. He seemed angry.

_Really_ angry.

I screamed again, but he covered my mouth as I did so.

"So, I see you are not going to cooperate." He said solemnly, "That is a shame. See, I was hoping we could do this the easy way… and I didn't want to use this, but…"

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a flash of a silver piece of metal. It looked sharp. I gasped.

A knife.

"Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way." The guy continued. "Now, listen here – you tell me what I want to know, and I promise I will let you go. If not…" He flashed the knife in my face, and my heart hammered against my chest, "…we're gonna have a problem."

"Wh- what do you want from me?" I managed to gasp out. He growled, in close resemblance to an animal; an animal ready and set to pounce.

"Information." He told me.

"_What_?" I squeaked.

"Information concerning what you _scumbags_ have done with her!"

He then let go of me, and I turned around to see he'd taken his hood down. I scanned him – he had blonde hair, and was wearing a scowl. He was actually a whole lot younger than I first anticipated – he didn't look like he could be much older than seventeen, maybe eighteen at a stretch. That didn't make him less terrifying, though. He looked furious – he shook vigorously as he held the knife out at me. I processed what he had asked.

"What?" I whispered carefully, trying to not make him mad, "Who?"

He flashed his teeth, which were blindingly white, gritting them together, before pulling me closer to him again. I noticed, only just, that he had deep, deep blue eyes. I scanned his face. Blonde hair, blue eyes, dimples, remarkably white teeth…

He reminded me of the picture of Chad Dylan Cooper. From the cover of the book.

If I hadn't been so terrified I would've rolled my eyes. Great. Even on death's doorway I was thinking about that book… and that _boy. _That _dreamy _boy…

"Don't be tricky!" He warned me, "I don't want to use this… especially not on a pretty young lady like yourself… but I will if I have to! So tell me what my uncle has done with her, and I promise to let you go!"

"U-uncle?" I stuttered out. I guess I was just kind of shocked he'd called me 'pretty'. That was hardly gonna be helpful on my part – he might… I gulped… _use_ me.

Although, by the furious look on his face, I could kinda tell that _using me_ wasn't really part of his plan. His blue eyes flashed with anger.

"You're pushing my patience, Miss!" He scowled, tightening his grip on me. I let out a yelp as he pushed the knife against my back to threaten me. He seemed to slacken at my helpless shriek – he removed the knife from my back, loosened his grip on me, and when I turned to see his face, he looked somewhat ashamed.

"I-I'm sorry…" He mumbled, hiding his face again with his hood. I was shocked – my attacker had suddenly become so… withdrawn… "Miss, if I let go of you, you have to promise you won't run away until I've finished talking. Do you understand?"

Unsure of any other option, I nodded mutedly, and he sighed and let go of me. I choked out a gasp in relief as he loosened his grip on me and unwrapped his arms from my waist.

And that's when I stupidly legged it.

"_YOU_!" I heard him shout behind me, but I was too busy running to acknowledge anything else. I looked back, breathing rapidly, to check if my attacker was following me, but…

He was gone.

I turned back, continued running… until I bumped into something.

I looked up in horror – it was him. He was scowling down at me, shaking his head regretfully. I was just terrified at the fact that he'd got to me so quickly… how had he overtaken me?

"You really shouldn't have done that, Miss." He told me remorsefully.

That's when he picked me up. Like he was holding a toddler, only not at all as gently as a toddler's carer should. I was over trying to be calm now – this man was clearly insane.

"HELP!" I screamed out, struggling in his arms. But there was obviously no-one around – the park was as deserted, quiet as a graveyard. What an awful coincidence. I had a horrible feeling in my chest about where this was going to end.

"SHUT UP!" He yelled at me, clearly losing his patience, "Give me what I want or I swear…"

"I have no idea who you're looking for, or what you want, just _let me go_!" I screamed, struggling in his arms. To my expectations, though, he didn't believe me.

"I was told to meet my contact from _soul _right by that tree you were sat at!" _Soul_…? "I was told I would find her at an oak tree, and so obviously, she is you! Do you deny this?"

I nodded, and that just happened to rile him up further.

"Wrong answer." He spat out. I braced myself as I realised his intentions – as he held me up higher, with one hand. This guy, I had to admit again, was unbelievably strong. I'm not exactly a heavy girl, but I'm quite average for my age, and he was holding me up, about two or three feet above the ground… with one hand. And he wasn't exactly a heavyweight champion-size either.

I winced as I saw his hand ball into a fist.

And then, before I could protect myself, he sent the fist flying towards my face.

"_Agh_!" I shrieked, shaking in reaction. My hand shot to my cheek as it felt numb with pain.

I heard him give out a dark chuckle, "I don't usually hurt girls, but…" I now noticed he was smirking at me, "that was rather worth it. Care for another? Or are you going to tell me _what they've done with Monica_?!"

And then I froze.

"M- _Monica_?" I gasped, still in pain from where he punched me. The smirk faded and was replaced with the same scowl I was familiar with. He'd been wearing it for most of the time since we'd met. "P-Please…" I murmured, "Just tell me who you are… maybe then I could help you!"

I wasn't planning to help him. I just needed an excuse to get away from him. I looked over his shoulder – Tawni had still not arrived. I closed my eyes and prayed she would come quickly and save me from this madman.

I then opened my eyes again to be met with those cold blue ones. They made me shiver, but at the same time… they were quite attractive.

Because of Chad. Of _course_.

The young man opened his mouth slowly to speak. He looked me over, just making sure that he should definitely share this information, with his mouth hung wide open, poised to speak.

"I am Chad Dylan Cooper." He told me, "Your boss's nephew, son of the greatest scientist who ever lived. Now, will you tell me where they have hidden Monica, because I don't have all day, and from what I heard while you were speaking on your…" He looked down at my handbag, where my phone was just peeking out. He looked at it with disgust, "on your phone, we are going to have company soon."

I gulped as I realised he'd heard my phone call.

And then his first words sunk in.

_I am Chad Dylan Cooper…_

Chad. Dylan. Cooper.

He said he was Chad Dylan Cooper.

…

At first I felt shock. Numbness and shock. I suppose if anyone else met their celebrity crush, they would've freaked out in my position. However, I did not, because _Chad is a character in a book. _

So instead, I came to this conclusion.

"You- you – How _dare _you?" I screamed into his face. He blinked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"How _dare _you bring me into this?!" I continued to scream at him, "You and your _stupid _little _role plays_…" I ran my hands through my hair, done being calm or afraid, "Look, I'm a fan of the book and all, and I must admit you look _incredibly _similar to him… but come_ ON! _Why do you drag an innocent girl into this?! I could call the cops, you know?"

Instead of getting angry, like I expected him to, the guy just blinked, before raising an eyebrow at me.

"I'm sorry?" He said, confused, "I… I do not understand…"

"Oh!" I let out a laugh, my terror suddenly turning into hysteria. "_Oh! _So, you're not _LARP_-ing, is this right?"

He looked at me as if I was crazy. His eyes shifted from side to side, almost like now he was the attack_ee_ and I was the attack_er._ Oh, yeah. Right.

"I don't know what a _LARP _is… but I still want that information from you that I was promised!" **(A/N: For those who don't know, 'LARP' is 'Live Action Role Play'. I learnt it from Good Luck Charlie :P)**

I let out a small laugh, "Okay…" I said, slightly hysterical, "So, tell me, '_Chad'… _are you role-playing? Or are you just mental?"

His eyes flashed with anger, before they just dropped. He put me down, onto solid ground, and I straightened my blouse, scowling at him, expectantly waiting for his reply.

"I…" He sighed, "I am not _role-playing_… I honestly have no idea what that even _is…_"

"So you're just crazy?"

His eyes shot up at me, threatening again, before the threatening nature of his glare faded away as quickly as last time, "I don't know." He mumbled, looking away from me. With one last menacing glare, I turned on my heels and strode towards the park gate, where I was supposed to be waiting for Tawni. I heard footsteps behind me though, and when I turned around – what do you know – the Chad impersonator was still following me, looking at me with nothing but utter curiosity. I scowled.

"Leave me _alone_!" I snapped.

"No!" He insisted, "Miss, I need to speak to you!"

"For the last time! I moaned, turning around as I reached the gate, "I know nothing about 'Monica' – only the stuff I've read in the book – and I am not a spy for some organisation, so you can just leave me alone and not speak to me again. Kay?"

The boy frowned. He reached for my hand but I pushed him away. I didn't want him touching me, after what he'd done. I didn't even want to be in this much of a close proximity with him. But he just wouldn't _go_. Well, if I can say one thing about role-players – they are _very_ persistent.

"Miss… I just want to apologise to you." He told me, his eyes kind. He reached for my hand once more and kissed it, and I pulled it away from him, my eyes widening in horror.

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you?" I yelled. Okay, this guy was officially creeping me out. And yet, he continued to stare at me in that naïve way of his that disgusted me. I saw Tawni's car come up and park a few feet away, and I was incredibly glad to finally get away from this creep. I turned to him, gave him a small wave, and rolled my eyes.

"Miss, I just want to say that I'm sorry for picking you out and attacking you like that…"

"Noted. Are we done now?"

The guy blinked, his mouth dropping open. "I… I guess."

"Good." I yelled, before turning on my heels and walking towards the car. "_Don't_ follow me!" I called back, getting in the car to see my best friend smiling at me.

"You alright, Sonny?" She asked me happily.

"Yeah, fine." I lied.

"Who was that you were talking to?"

"Some weirdo." I said, eyeballing the roof of the car. Tawni scoffed.

"Mm-hmm. Good thing you walked away – those guys can be odd."

"Uh-huh…" I exhaled loudly, "You really have _no _idea… hey, can we go to your house? I just need to chill out somewhere, and home isn't that somewhere right now."

Tawni smiled, revving the car engine, "Sure, hon." She said. I smiled back at her thankfully.

I didn't want to face my mom, especially after what had just happened. She's a very observant woman – she would've noticed something wrong with me; a bruise on my cheek that was disguised by the night light now, maybe even a shift in my personality, my body language, my speech. I love Tawni to death, but she's not the most observant of people – unlike my mother, of course, who seems to notice without fault whenever I'm upset, annoyed, or scared. Which is exactly why I called Tawni to pick me up, and not Mom. I couldn't face her with a problem like this.

I looked out of the back window, watching as I saw the figure of the man watch us drive away, before he slowly turned and slinked off into the distance.

* * *

The drive to Tawni's was long.

It sure felt it anyway, because she lived slightly out of the city, in a more rural part that you had to go through a little forest to get to. It was a really pretty and modern house – it totally didn't fit in with its surroundings. You'd expect it to be like a log cabin or something in those settings – but it's seriously modern and high-tech. I loved going to her house – no neighbours, no noise… just peace and quiet and birds chirping with the occasional humming of a car passing by. Not like outside my apartment; with the horns blaring, the engines whirring, and the occasional drunken yell. Sometimes I hated living near the centre of Los Angeles.

The car ride was silent. All I could see out the window were trees, trees, more trees. The moonlight was blocked by the branches above our heads. The radio was off; the only sound in the front of the car was the humming of the engine and our soft breathing. Everything was fine.

That is, until Tawni slammed down on the breaks and the car screeched to a halt. Alarmed, I looked out of the front window, to see a fallen log was blocking our path. I threw my palm to my forehead, moaning.

Great.

"Damn it." Tawni muttered to herself, eying the log as if that would make it disappear. "How the heck did this happen?"

"Maybe the tree died and it collapsed?" I suggested. Tawni shook her head.

"It hardly looks like it's been rotting. And look-" She pointed to the now tree-less stump, "It looks like it's been cut down."

I focused on the stump and realised Tawni was right. I guessed, living out in the forest, she'd notice stuff like that. She wouldn't know about it because of experience or anything, oh no; I doubted Tawni had worked a day in her life. She was such a princess. A lovely princess, but a princess all the same. Which I suppose I would be if my father was as rich as hers. Ooh, and lived with me.

My best friend scanned the tree stump for a second, as if she expected it to do something, before opening the door and getting out of the car.

"Wha… _Tawni_!" I hissed, watching as she shut the door behind her and walked casually over to the tree stump to investigate. Nervous – we were in a forest, at night, after all – I followed her out of the car, turning worriedly to every sound.

"Tawni, I think we need to get back into the car…" I whispered to my friend, getting as close to her as humanly possible for protection. Tawni shoved me away bending down to look at the damage done to the tree.

"Yup, axed down." Tawni sighed, elbowing me away. To be honest, I didn't care about the tree. I mean, usually, I'd rant on about how chopping down trees is wrong and how a family of birds probably lived in there or something, but I was kinda scared. Well, I had just got attacked a few minutes prior, and now my best friend and I were out, alone, in an empty forest, where someone could've jumped out on us at any moment and no-one would've been able to hear our cries in agony and pain and maybe even death.

Okay, so I can be a bit pessimistic. But c'mon – I had just got attacked. Could you really blame me?

"Don't you think we should be getting back to your house now, Tawn?" I asked my blonde friend, who rolled her eyes lightly.

"Sonny, we can't get past the tree." She reminded me, "Unless you have some great super-strength and can move the tree from our path, well, we can't get past."

"_What?"_ I growled, keeping my voice level as low as humanly possible. "So we're just _stuck_ out here?"

"Chill, Sonny!" Tawni said, a little too loudly for my liking, "We just have to turn the car around and go backwards."

"Where would we go then?" I moped, folding my arms like a grumpy five year old.

"I don't know… Back to your house?" Tawni suggested.

"Nuh-huh!" I pouted. I didn't want to face my Mom. She'd interrogate me on why I left and why I was out for so long and what I did while I was out, and I knew that I was not in the mood to lie to my Mom that night. To be frank, I wasn't in the mood to _talk _to my Mom that night.

"So, what do you suggest?" Tawni asked, getting impatient, "We sleep in my car?"

"No!" I protested, waving my arms around for dramatic effect, "No, no, no! Not gonna happen! We might get attacked by werewolves or something!"

Tawni stared at me like I'd grown another head, "Werewolves don't exist, Sonny."

"Pfft. They so do."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Not."

"_Too._"

"Not!"

"TOO!"

_**CRACK**._

The sound of a twig snapping brought our argument to an immediate halt. Tawni and I froze, on the spot, our eyes moving around frantically to see where the source of the sound was.

"Um, I think I'm going back in the car…" I told Tawni timidly. She nodded slowly.

"Right behind you."

The two of us scrambled into our seats in the car – I put on my seatbelt on, just in case the werewolf was strong and could throw the car. I also locked my window, just in case said werewolf was… gulp, _hungry_.

…

Silence.

Deadly silence.

There was nothing.

Nothing but the sound of a siren, not too far away. Getting closer, and closer…

Tawni sighed in relief. "Great. Maybe it's a fire-truck or something to move this tree."

I looked behind myself, to where the sound of the siren was coming from, to see a black, mysterious-looking van slowing up behind us. I gulped.

"Uh, Tawni…" I murmured, "I don't think it's a fire-truck."

Tawni whirled around in her seat to see the same black van, and fear struck on her face immediately.

"Do you think it's the CIA?" She asked me hurriedly, her eyes wide.

"Why would the CIA be after us?" I replied, shaking, "They're some evil guys come to kidnap us!" I then froze, "What if it's the guy who attacked me back in the park?" I breathed, terrified.

Tawni groaned, face-palming herself, "Sonny, forget about that guy, he… _AGH!"_

A sudden knocking on Tawni's window causes us both to scream uncontrollably. We both look out of the window to see a man, dressed in a suit, wearing dark shades. I was shocked by his appearance. Why would someone wear shades? In the night? Unless they were, you know, trying to avoid being recognised...

Now I was horrified.

The man was smiling at us through the glass, looking friendly enough. But after what I'd been through that night, I wasn't buying it.

It looked like he was saying something; "Open the window," I think. I elbowed Tawni and shook my head, defying her from doing so. The man's smile suddenly disappeared, to be replaced with a scowl. He punched the glass window, making Tawni and I scream in horror again. Terrified, Tawni opened the window. The man grinned, but he didn't speak. He just pointed… directly at me.

I felt sick.

"Miss," He said to me, almost totally calm, "May I have a word with you?"

Tawni looked at me suddenly, a look of horror on her face. I couldn't focus on her really. I was just kept gaping at the man wordlessly, before I worked up the courage to shake my head. The stranger just got angry again.

"You're wearing my patience thin, Miss." He said – though angry, still unbelievably calm. "Now, listen to me – we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way." My heart sank. This wasn't the first time I'd heard that statement tonight.

Tawni bit her lip at the man, "Wh-what's the easy way?" She asked him. The man shrugged.

"Your friend steps out of the car, tells us everything we need to know, we'll sort out a short route around this tree for you, and then you can get going on your way."

"You cut down this tree?" I gaped. The man smiled calmly.

"Well, we knew you were coming this way, and it was the easiest way to get you to stop the car." He explained, as if cutting down trees and scaring teenage girls was a habit of his. Well, maybe it was.

I didn't really want to know the answer to my next question, "And, what is this hard way?"

The man's smile grew into a scary grin, "We have a van. We can easily take you to our little hideout and get the information _there_."

Tawni's jaw dropped, "But that's kidnapping!" She wailed, "You can't do that! It's against the law!"

The man shot a look at her, "Do I look like the law scares me?" He demanded. Tawni let out a whimper, and shook her head. I took in a deep breath, trying to be brave.

"What information do you need?" I asked him. His smile settled again to that composed state.

"We believe you had contact with our… _target_ earlier tonight." He clarified. "You are the last person to have talked to him, according to our spies… we want to know if you know where he went, anything like that."

I blinked. "Target?"

The man nodded, "Goes by the name of 'Chad Dylan Cooper.'"

I remembered who he was talking about immediately. "Oh, so you're looking for that lunatic?" I asked. "Gonna lock him up?"

The man nodded, "I suppose you could say that…"

"Mm-hmm…" I smiled at the man. Obviously he wasn't as bad as I expected. "Well, I'm glad. He's a creep."

"A freak of nature." The man agreed, "We need to get rid of him, under his uncle's instructions."

"Uncle?" I blinked. Again, a mention of his uncle? I suddenly remembered how Chad's uncle is frequently mentioned in the book, but from where I'd got up to in the book so far, he hadn't made an appearance yet… but Chad described him as an evil, villainous man, who gave his late father's work a bad name and wanted Chad captured for reasons that he would not tell Monica.

My gut abruptly sank. I felt like screaming at the man who was still staring at me. He was just another one of these role-players, wasn't he?!

"You freak!" I yelled at him. Tawni's eyes widened.

"Sonny!" She hissed, but I ignored her.

"You're just like him, aren't you? You're just picking on me! Did he send you? Go back to him and tell him it's not funny, and that you all have _sick _minds!"

And after I'd finished yelling, the man's smile had completely gone. He shook his head slowly.

"I'm sorry to do this, young lady…"

He reached down into his pocket, shuffled his hand around for a little…

And when he pulled it back out, my stomach turned over in the familiar fearing-for-my-life way for the second time in that night.

He had a gun.

"I warned you, Miss… we can always root through your brain and your memories after you're dead…" He reached for the trigger. I could hear my heart pounding in my chest. I counted the beats… _one… two…_

I closed my eyes, trying to stay brave. I heard a click and almost let a tear escape as Tawni screamed. _Three… four…_

_**BANG**_.

The gunshot went off, and I knew it was over.

…

I expected a bright light. A singing of angels. Something.

_Anything_.

It was only when Tawni shook my shoulder, shouting my name in my ear, when I realised that I was still alive.

I opened my eyes, which immediately darted around in search of what had happened to extend my life, for even a few short seconds. Unable to see the man anymore, I got out of Tawni's car to see him being held up in the air by a figure in a hoodie. They talked aggressively at each other – though I couldn't make out what they were saying – before the new figure threw the man in the suit behind him like he was a bag of trash. The man got up and scurried towards the van with a horrified expression on his face, and the two others with him ran back into their van and drove off rapidly.

I didn't know whether to be thankful for my rescuer, or terrified.

Especially when the figure took down the hood and looked at me with his now-friendly blue eyes.

"Oh. Hello again, Miss!"

* * *

**A/N: Ta daaa! That's chapter 2 done :) What did y'all think? **

**Please review :D**

**~Amy x**

**PS: How'd you like the cover for the story? Cool, huh? :P**


	3. Identity

**A/N: Hey there guys! Firstly I wanna apologise 'cos I've had this chapter ready for like a week, but I just haven't posted. I've had a week of being nostalgic over old Cartoon Network shows that I used to love as a kid. Anyone used to watch all those oldies from CN? They were my life as a kid, haha :D **

**Thanks for all your reviews. They mean a lot to me... and yeah, I know! This story is a lot darker and more unrealistic than my other stories, but it's also super fun to write! :D**

**GuestAgain - It's okay honey :) And nooo, she's not dreaming! Heheh. **

**CDCTheRandomWizard23 - I totally didn't notice that... haha. I should've. Lol :D**

**I don't own Sonny with A Chance.**

* * *

**Lost Soul**

**Chapter 3 - Identity**

Chapter 3

The second I realised who my saviour was, I swear I could've screamed. Not that I was terrified, oh no. Furious? Hell, yeah.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I yelled, putting my hands on my hips. It was 'Chad'. He raised an eyebrow at me, feigning innocence. Pfft. How sad. He actually thought that he could fool me into thinking he was _him. _So, he was good-looking. So what? A lot of guys were 'good-looking'.

But, then again, 'a lot of guys' didn't bear an almost perfect resemblance to Chad Dylan Cooper… I shook my head, convincing myself that no-one as perfect could really exist in real life.

"I… I saw the men coming down this way. They're my uncle's men – I had to follow them, to get information – information I was told I'd get from _you_, but I didn't. But I saw them threaten you… I didn't know it was you, but I had to do something." I folded my arms and huffed. The boy looked almost hurt, "He was going to kill you, Miss." He emphasised.

My head spun at that word – 'kill'. It was overwhelming, to realise how close I'd really come to death. Before I could say anything, Tawni practically dived out of the car and stood close to 'Chad', grinning at him like some crazed fan-girl. I refrained from rolling my eyes. Of course, Tawni didn't know that my heroic saviour had threatened me earlier – held me like a bag of sugar and hit me like a punching bag.

"This guy saved your life, Sonny!" She said, awestruck.

"Yeah… not to mention he almost ended it earlier." I commented. The Chad impersonator sighed, troubled.

"I _did_ apologise." He defended himself persistently. I scowled at him.

"Yeah, because that just makes everything _so_ much better." I droned. He shook his head.

"You should be grateful, Miss." He said, before smirking, "If it wasn't for me, you would've died twice tonight."

I shook my head at him, "Mental…" I sighed, making my way to Tawni's car.

"Wait!"

Somehow, the guy reached the car door before I could. Huh. Okay, so he was fast, I'll give him that.

"You want me to be grateful?" I asked him with a scowl, not waiting for his response. "Fine. Thank you, my heroic saviour. Can you go away now?"

The guy frowned a little, "Do you two ladies need to get past this tree?" He asked, ignoring my own question. Tawni nodded, still in awe. Tawni wasn't as much of a fan of _Lost Soul _– of _books _– as I was, so obviously she didn't know that this guy was just messing with us. Besides, only true _Lost Soul _fans could spot a fraud.

"My house is past here." She informed him, pointing in the general direction of her house. 'Chad' smiled.

"I think I know the place you're talking about." He said, "I passed an impressive white house on my way through the forest… would that be it, perchance?"

Tawni grinned, "Yep!"

"So I suppose you'll need to get past this tree to get home, yeah?"

"No duh." I rolled my eyes. Tawni frowned at me for my sudden bad mood, but really, if she'd have known what this guy did to me she'd be giving him the cold shoulder too. Or maybe she'd give him a purse in the face.

"Well, you're in luck." The boy said, before looking around, leaning in closer to us, and whispering. I saw no need for it, though. No-one was around.

I think.

"Can you two keep a secret?"

Tawni gasped, "A secret?" She breathed, "I'm the worst at keeping them! Ooh! Like that secret how Sonny has a massive crush on some guy in a book called Cha-"

"_Shut up_." I hissed into her ear. If this guy heard about my crush on '_him_', I wouldn't hear the end of it. The guy's smile became slightly crooked.

"And you?" He asked, turning to me. I shrugged.

"I suppose."

He nodded, walking over to Tawni. "In that case…" He placed a hand behind Tawni's head, and one in front of her eyes. He whispered something directly in her ear and she suddenly collapsed into his arms. I gasped.

"What the heck are you doing?" I hissed as he opened the back door to Tawni's car and placed her body down in the back seat.

"If she can't keep a secret, I can't have her seeing what I'm about to do. If the authorities found out about me…" He shuddered, "I can _not_ go back into a lab; I just escaped from the first one."

"A lab?" I blinked, before remembering with a shudder that in the book, Chad mentioned once about 'the lab' to Monica. I scoffed to myself. _No way_. This guy was crazy about _Lost Soul. _He had to have been to be role-playing this convincingly. So he'd obviously know about a lab in the book. He was a role-player after all. He probably knew more about the book than I did.

"Anyway," The guy said, ignoring my words, shutting the back door and scanning the tree with a smile, "Let's see if we can get this thing moving, shall we?"

I watched, just amused by his efforts, as the guy ambled towards the massive trunk blocking the road to Tawni's, studying it for a few seconds.

The next few seconds were mind-blowing.

After a little while of the Chad look-alike just staring at the tree, as if he was calculating something, he rested his palms against the fallen log and let out a loud groan. And then, I saw the tree move; slowly, slowly, slowly… I felt myself breathing in, but never breathing out, as he moved the massive tree a few inches every ten seconds or so. After a few minutes, Chad had unblocked the whole right side of the road.

I remembered a line from _Lost Soul_ immediately:

"_Oh my…" I muttered to Chad as he clasped his hands together, grinning at me, and then I looked at the boulder which had once blocked my car, speechless, "H-how did you do that?"_

I asked "Chad" the exact same question from that line. He gave the exact same answer.

"Let's just say I'm one strong dude." He said with a casual shrug. I swallowed hard, not sure whether to feel safe or threatened. "Shall we get you and your friend home, then?" He asked. Unable to do anything else, I nodded slowly. Chad grinned.

"Excellent. Let's go."

* * *

I couldn't take my eyes off that boy – that mysterious, dashing, _perfect_ boy – in the driver's seat beside me.

I didn't know what to think anymore. Chad was _fiction _– or so I'd thought. He was make-believe – a writer, Diana Clearwater, her name was – had made him up. I'd seen interviews – she said that the character of Chad "came to her like a dream." She never said that he was actually a real person.

Never.

But… he was here. Driving my best friend's car.

He. Was. Here.

_Real_.

I wasn't going to try and deny it anymore. I mean, no-one from my world who was Chad's size could be so strong that they could hold a sixteen year-old girl in one arm like she was a bag of chips, or move an entire dead tree truck in a few minutes flat without a crane, and without breaking a sweat, or maybe a bone. I rubbed my cheek from where he'd punched me in the park and winced at the pain, and then looked up at the rear-view mirror and realised that I had a thick, purple bruise beginning to form.

Great. As if it wasn't going to be hard enough explaining this whole thing to Mom.

Speaking of Mom…

I fished my phone out of my purse to call her, and realised that I'd missed six calls from her.

Oops. I was so dead.

Pulling a face, I quickly started typing a text;

_**To: Mom**_

_Hey! Sorry I haven't got home; Tawni said that I could come over for a sleepover! See you tomorrow x_

I turned my phone off immediately afterwards, not wanting to see her reply. I don't know why, though. I knew this wouldn't be a problem in my mother's eyes. Mom had, after all, been so insistent that I hung out with my friends a little more. Well, here I was. In Tawni's car. On our way to her house.

Only she wasn't driving – she was still out cold in the back seat. Some strange guy (who was most likely a character from a fiction book) was driving instead.

It was certainly a difficult thing to comprehend. I still didn't know whether this Chad was really just an actor or something, and the tree a CGI image or hologram or something; I was probably being Punk'd at this very second, for all I knew.

It wasn't that funny of a prank, though. I was terrified. I suddenly contemplated that Gemma had maybe called in to a pranking show, claiming that I was her best friend just so she could use my obsession with Chad to her advantage and humiliate me on TV in front of millions.

I shuddered. After all I'd been through tonight, the thought of Gemma still got to me.

I took my mind off of the witch and focused on Chad for a minute. So I'd decided he was real – until I had evidence to prove otherwise, that is. But now, he was here, alive, _real. _

And he was better than I'd ever anticipated.

I remembered the image on the front cover of _Lost Soul _that writer Diana Clearwater had drawn – I'd seen it enough times to picture it perfectly. It was a picture of Monica – the main character – a girl with mocha-coloured skin, silky black hair and big brown eyes – and she looked terrified, with a hand to her mouth. And then there was Chad; stood slightly behind her, at her side, with his arms folded, a stony expression on his face, and his blue eyes glowing almost supernaturally.

I turned to look at Chad. His expression wasn't stony, like on the cover of the book, but he wasn't smiling, either. I remembered his "stony" expression from the park, and, frighteningly, his "I'm gonna kill you" one too, and I flinched. Chad may have been good-looking, but he was also extremely dangerous. It made me nervous just being next to him. He'd said it himself in the book – he was very dangerous and had a _very_ short fuse.

But it wasn't just his temper which made me nervous, but his looks too. The book cover didn't even do him justice – his blue eyes sparkled in the faint light, his blonde hair was quaffed flawlessly, and he had clear dimples, which, I remembered, were emphasised when he smiled. He was a skinny, trendy figure – his clothes looked like they could only be from the very best designers. Well, his father had been an incredible, world-famous scientist, so Chad's life was probably perfect before his father passed away. Chad revealed to Monica in the book that his father had died when he was fifteen – two years prior. I noticed that his top was quite snug, and his jeans were faded. They must've been old. Yet, he made them look like they'd just come off the urban catwalk.

Yes. I'd decided. The book cover did Chad no justice whatsoever. He was even more dashing and flawless in the flesh.

I shook my head and fished the book out of my bag, studying it, making comparisons between book Chad and real Chad, with real Chad winning every time. I then studied the whole cover. Apart from the two main characters in the front, the rest of the cover was a black colour – like Monica and Chad were in a pitch-black room as the setting – with a tall silhouette stood in the background with his arms folded.

Chad's uncle.

"What's that?"

I jumped at the sound of Chad's voice, and gripped the book instinctively to my chest.

"I – it's nothing, really." I said with a fake smile, "Just a book."

Chad frowned, studying the book carefully, taking his eyes away from the road. I gasped.

"Watch the road!" I shrieked. He just shrugged.

"Miss, I first learned how to drive two months ago when my friend taught me. I was so good; I ended up teaching her a few things." He boasted proudly. I knew what he was talking about – the scene had been in the book. It was a scene with Monica – although Chad said that she "taught" him, he pretty much picked it up himself immediately. The student became the teacher, and all that. Chad was a fast learner, so it seemed. He picked everything up so easily.

"It's okay," Chad assured me, "I've got this."

He stared at the book with narrow eyes, his left hand still on the steering wheel while his right traced along the glossy front cover. He looked up at me suddenly, his eyes deep.

"Is that me?" He asked softly, pointing at the drawn picture of himself. I gulped – his eyes were so hypnotic, I almost forgot to answer his question.

"Yeah." I replied, "Um, yeah, it is."

He blinked, "I am on a book cover?" His finger left his own picture and landed on Monica's, "With Monica? Why?"

I sighed as we arrived at Tawni's house. I fiddled with my seatbelt to undo it.

"Um… I'll explain another time." I promised, opening the door and getting out of the car. Chad got out too, slamming the door behind him.

"Miss!" He called as I opened the back door to get Tawni. I turned around – he was at my side in a second.

"Yeah?"

"I never asked you for your name."

My head suddenly ached. I was about to tell my biggest crush – who was a fictional character – my name. This night was getting crazier.

"Sonny." I told him with my signature smile, which I had abandoned tonight in place of scowling and yelling and screaming. Chad smiled.

"Sonny," He breathed, holding my hand and placing a delicate kiss on it. I could've fainted. I was being touched – _kissed_ – by Chad Dylan Cooper. It was literally too good to be true. "A name so beautiful, that nothing, but the face of the bearer herself, could compare."

I cursed myself mentally as I blushed crimson at his words. Chad Dylan Cooper was many things – he was hot. He was cool. He was suspicious. He was also a major player. I swear, every time he met a girl in that book, he charmed her and kissed her hand. In the world of make-believe, I thought that was just amazingly cute, but in the real world, guys like that make me sick.

Then again, Chad was raised by his father – he mentions, again, in the book – to be a gentleman to every lady he met. His father was very old-fashioned in that way, which explained why Chad sometimes slipped into a tone of voice that sounded like he'd come out of a history textbook. I supposed that, whether he was in an unfamiliar world or not, his manners had not disappeared. This wasn't him being a "player" (or so I hoped) – he was being a gentleman.

And he pulled it off flawlessly.

"_Ugh…" _

"Oh, hold up there…" Chad watched as Tawni toppled out of the car and onto the floor – still groggy from the sleep he put her in. He picked her up and held her in his arms and I almost felt jealous of her. I was also astounded at how he was holding Tawni – cradling her like a young, sleepy child, when, in reality, she was only one year younger than him, if that. Chad's birthday hadn't been announced in the book, and so I didn't know the exact number of days, weeks, months – I just knew he was a seventeen year old boy on a mission. What that mission was, I had yet to find out… and now he was here, I was more eager than ever to know his history.

He looked up at me with a friendly, easy smile. "Do you have a key?" He asked, before turning to look across the driveway, which was empty save Tawni's car. It was her parent's anniversary – they were out – and Tawni was an only child, just like me.

Just like Chad.

I shook my head apologetically, "This isn't my house."

"Oh." Chad frowned, but the frown disappeared quickly, "Well, I can always take you home after I've got this one to bed…" He talked about Tawni as if she were a little toddler. It was kind of odd, but I didn't really care. "Besides, it will give us some alone time to… discuss something."

His gaze fell on the book that I was still clutching firmly in my right hand – the hand that had not been blessed by the touch of his lips. I realised that he probably had a lot of questions – questions on why I had a book with him and Monica on the cover. I was afraid they were questions that I had no idea how to answer.

"Um… no, thank you." I said politely, stuffing the book back into my bag. I noticed Chad was slightly tight – he loosened a little when I put the book away. Almost as if it was disturbing him. "I don't really want to go home right now." I admitted, "I kinda… I'd have to explain this all to my Mom, and that's a story I'd rather save 'til tomorrow morning, when I'm less… shaken up."

Chad's face softened, "I suppose I understand." He said, "So, what are your other arrangements?"

"I'm sleeping at Tawni's." I told him. He sighed, a dark smile on his lips.

"Wonderful." He said, "You'll both be easy to keep an eye on, then…"

"Keep an eye on?" I blinked. Chad's eyes widened.

"Um… my uncle is pretty relentless…" He stopped that train of thought suddenly, and started on another one. "Do you know if this… Tawni has her keys on her?"

I smirked a little, "Knowing Tawni? Nope. She'd forget her head if it wasn't screwed on… in fact, scratch that. Tawni's too egotistic to forget her pretty little head."

Chad laughed – properly laughed – and I felt satisfaction in it. The light, happy sound was like music – I could've danced to it. I also felt proud to have made Chad Dylan Cooper laugh. Monica made it obvious in the story – laughing was something Chad Dylan Cooper rarely did – properly, anyway. When he did laugh, it was something like a dark cackle under his breath. I recalled when he'd cackled at me in the park, and a shiver rushed down my spine at the very thought.

"You're a funny one, Miss Sonny." He said, speaking my name with such ease. I'd never heard it said that way – it sounded so gentle, like a caring older brother. The fact he said 'Miss' before it just made my silly little name feel regal and elegant, especially with his smooth, velvet voice.

"Thanks." I said, squeaking a little. I realised how different our voices were – his was low, yet smooth, and I sounded like a chipmunk on helium that had the hiccups.

Real cute.

"Are you tired?" He asked. I suddenly felt the exhaustion hit me like an express train, and my knees felt overly weak. I swallowed hard.

"A little." I said; an understatement, of course. Chad smiled, looking down at Tawni, before looking back up to me with a slightly evil smile.

"I'm sure your friend wouldn't mind if we broke in, would she?"

And so that's how I ended up at the back of Tawni's house, midnight, watching Chad Dylan Cooper, a fictional character, shove at the door into Tawni's kitchen. After a few unfruitful attempts, the door opened. My jaw dropped as I realised no damage had been done to the door. Chad just shrugged.

"Point me in the direction to her room." He said, picking Tawni back up. I pointed my finger towards the stairs, down the hall, and Chad nodded thankfully and made his way effortlessly up the stairs, clutching onto Tawni with his two superhuman arms.

After his body got out of sight up the stairs, I led myself into Tawni's living room, seating myself on the large leather sofa in the centre of the room. I flung my shoes off of my feet and rested them on the fluffy, sheep-skin rug, and reached across to the remote on the coffee table in front of me, switching the TV on to take my mind of the night's events.

I just didn't expect to be faced with them immediately.

The woman on the screen was a blonde, pretty, young reporter. She had a look on her face that just screamed "serious", and I gulped. Just her face was making me feel tense.

She was stood by a roadside, and when I turned the volume up a little to hear her speaking, I heard that she was speaking about some jerks who had been speeding along the highway in a black van, who almost caused a serious crash, and that police were following them but had lost them somewhere close to the edge of town.

And when they showed the footage of the idiots on the screen, I froze over. I recognises them immediately.

Chad's uncle's men. The ones who'd attacked me and Tawni earlier. The ones who'd Chad sent running and hiding. The police explained that they had lost the men around half eleven – when Tawni and I arrived at the tree. They must've been hiding in the forest…

One of the men on the footage stuck his head out of the window of the van and yelled something at the police – but there was no sound so I didn't know what. I felt myself tense up as I realised he was the man who threatened me.

Who would've killed me if Chad hadn't arrived. It hurt my head to think about.

"I suppose we know where they're hiding, then."

Chad's voice made me jump out of my skin, and then sent me into some weird hysteria.

"We… we need to call the police!" I told him, getting up from my seat on the couch, "We have to call somebody who can stop them…"

"Ah, bah, bah!" Chad caught my arm as I walked towards him. I felt an electric impulse shoot up my arm, and pulled away from him. "You forget, Sonny…" He said, smiling, "I _am _somebody who can stop them."

"But-"

"I stopped them from killing you; I stalled them long enough for Monica to get away…" He smiled victoriously, "She's safe. I know she is. I can keep you girls safe from them, and I can take them down, too. Easily."

I felt a pang of regret in my chest. Chad didn't know what I'd read in Chapter 16 of _Lost Soul _– Monica had been captured.

"Chad- I- I think-"

"I think you need some sleep." Chad interrupted me, catching my arm again. I didn't pull away this time, even though the electric impulse was even stronger than before. It's almost as if the message didn't even reach my brain.

"Sleep." I echoed him. His lips twitched, the sides of his mouth curling into a smile.

"Yes." He said softly, leading me back to the couch, "Sleep is a good idea. You look exhausted…" He sat me down on the couch, passing me a white blanket that was draping on the stairway banister. I snuggled up on the couch, and Chad took a seat in the armchair next to it. My eyes started to droop and I commanded them not to, just for a minute, so I could stare at Chad for a few seconds longer. I realised, then, how much of a creepy pervert I was being. I mean, it was fine to obsess over him when he was just another character in a book – millions of girls had crushes on fictional guys. But when he was here, only a few feet away, well… it was difficult. I was alone, with him. If he caught me staring at him, he'd think I was mental and creepy.

"Wh- what about your uncle's men?" My voice slurred a little, and I realised with a frown that I was drifting into sleep. I just about saw Chad shrug through my half-open eyes.

"I will figure that out in the morning." He stated, "But right now, I'm not going to leave you and Tawni alone in this big house…" He shuddered a little, "If anything happened to you…"

"Nothing would happen to us."

"You don't know my uncle's men." He said nervously. I think I frowned, but I was so tired I'm not quite sure. "Just…" His face softened a little, "go to sleep, dream sweet dreams, and I promise I'll be here all night to protect you."

I remember blushing furiously. Chad Dylan Cooper, protecting me?

_Wow_.

"And, I don't want to worry you, but in the morning I wish to know more about this book."

"You can read it now, if ya' like." I suggested, yawning, "Unless you wanna sleep."

Chad gave me a small smile as my eyes closed.

"I'll do so," was the last thing I heard before falling asleep.

* * *

**A/N: N'aw. There you go. I felt like throwing in a nice, calm chapter to disrupt all the hoopin' and hollerin' of last chapter. Ha. **

**So... thoughts? Be sure to review please! As I read on another fanfic this morning - Reviews are like batteries. They charge up the writer. Hehehe. Cute :)**

**See y'all around :)**

**~Amy x**


	4. Missing

**A/N: Oh my gosh, this took way too long! I apologise. I've had it ready for, like, three weeks. I swear. I just couldn't be asked to proofread it. I've been lazy 'cos summer holidays were on and then school started this week and my body was just like SLEEP when I wasn't doing schoolwork or homework or all that crud, so I've just been so lazy with my writing. But now I'm back and ready to roll! ;D**

CloudyNight** - Haha, yup, this is all my writing. The idea came from the book **'The Vampire Stalker'**, but they're all my words :) **

Guest - **Nah, the Lost Soul book in this story isn't real. It's the story within the story, heh heh. It's fun writing two stories :P**

**Okay, enough chat-chit, let's get movin! ;D**

**I didn't own Sonny with a Chance when I started in FanFiction, and I don't own Sonny with a Chance now...**

* * *

**Lost Soul**

**Chapter 4 - Missing**

Chapter 4

I woke up with a jolt, my eyes refusing to open.

My dreams had pretty much convinced me that the whole of last night had been some crazy stress-induced nightmare. Basically, reality and what went on in my head completely swapped places. My dreams were full of school, homework, friends, bullies, and the odd thought of Chad Dylan Cooper, the wonderful character in the fantasy book. But, not once did Chad show up on my doorstep, or hit me, or smile at me in that adorable way of his.

And nor did he smile when I opened my eyes and realised that last night _hadn't _been a nightmare. It had been all too real.

Chad's scowl – the same one he wore on the _Lost Soul_ cover – alerted me to his angry, we-need-to-talk-right-now mood. Chad's looks were pretty loaded, sometimes – Monica could tell what he was thinking straight away on those times. Other times, when he wore a more closed-off scowl, he was more difficult to read. Chad was made out to be such a complicated, yet fascinating character in the books – Diana Clearwater had done an impressive job with him. I just sat here, staring at him, wondering how the fudge it was possible that I could be doing just that. I knew Diana Clearwater was a vivid writer – her characters and words jumped off of the pages. That was why she was my favourite author, and _Lost Soul_ my favourite book, just like a few other thousands of girls.

Still. I didn't think her writing could be so amazing that she could bring both Chad Dylan Cooper – and his villainous uncle's henchmen – to life. No matter how incredible and/or popular she was.

"Sonny." He said in monotone, while I squinted, adjusting my eyes to the light that shone through the cream-coloured curtains of Tawni's living room. "We must talk. Right now."

Grudgingly, I sat up on the brown leather couch and rubbed my eyes. "_Whaa?"_ My voice slurred. Chad looked at me with a raised eyebrow, before throwing a small object in my direction. The book landed in my lap. Blinking, adjusting my eyes to the morning light, I picked up the book in my lap and studied its glossy paperback cover.

"I don't understand." Chad was saying, while I flicked through the pages of the book, "That book is written from the thoughts of Monica, right?"

"Right." I said. Chad raised his eyebrows, his blue eyes shimmering with curiosity.

"That makes no sense." He said, taking the book from me and pointing at the cover, where "DIANA CLEARWATER" was written across the bottom of the cover along with the book's tagline _"Wherever He Goes, Mystery Follows."_

Well, she got that right.

"This Diana Clearwater woman claims to be Monica!" He growled, "Not only that, but I have read to chapter nine – "Learner", it was entitled – and from what I've read so far, she knows everything about mine and Monica's life!" Chad threw his hands up in the air, sudden enraged, "How in the world does she know Monica's thoughts? Unless she _is_ Monica claiming to be this woman in order to, um…" Chad pulled a face, a calculating one, clearly trying to come up with an excuse for all this madness, "cause some kind of uproar or something…"

I sighed. I'd seen Diana Clearwater's picture a lot of times – she didn't have mocha-skin or glossy black hair, like Monica did. She was quite pale, but she looked healthy, and she had long, wavy, auburn locks. She was beautiful, classy – all the things you'd expect of a world-renown author. There was no way that, as Chad was claiming, Diana was really Monica in disguise. Monica was the same age as me; sixteen – Diana Clearwater was a thirty-something year-old woman.

"I don't think that's possible." I said, shaking my head, "Diana Clearwater said that she made up the characters of you and Monica…"

"_Characters_?" Chad's eyebrows rose suddenly, and he stood, his fists clenching. "Do you not _see_ me, Sonny Munroe? Am I not _real_ enough for you?"

"I…" Chad superior tone made me nervous. Extremely so. "I don't know."

Chad gripped my arm suddenly. His grip was strong – I couldn't move – but he wasn't hurting me, like he had been last night. He tugged at my arm, pulling me up from my seat and kissing my hand like he had last night, which sent my head into another wild spin.

"Is that not enough proof for you?" He asked with a half-smirk. I found myself launching into a word vomit, and my cheeks burned.

"I- you- the book-" Chad raised an eyebrow at me in slight amusement and I felt like throwing up. "I need to lie down." I said, numbly seating myself back on the couch. Chad sat next to me on the couch, looking concerned. He placed a delicate hand on my lap as a complete contrast from his tough grip from a few seconds ago.

"I'm sorry." He said gently. "I didn't mean to scare you…"

"No, it's fine." I said, trying to recollect myself. I didn't want to fall apart in front of Chad Dylan Cooper.

"I just don't understand…" Chad sighed, raking a hand through his messy blonde hair, "Someone has written down our lives into a book? Or, at least, the passed few months?" I nodded.

"You're story's one popular one. Especially with teenage girls aged thirteen to seventeen."

Chad smiled, "Are you one of these girls who finds my story interesting?"

I tried not to let myself blush. And failed. Miserably.

"It's… a good book." I said. Chad nodded.

"My life sure has been eventful enough to be in a book, that's for sure. Heck, that thing right there proves it!" He laughed blackly, "Still, I don't remember Monica ever writing a book about her life, or authorising some woman to write it down like some kind of biography." He sighed, shaking his head, "I don't understand any of this."

I rubbed my chin in thought. I hadn't wanted to suggest this, but now I really had no other option. "Maybe… maybe you're from, like, a different world or something?" Chad lifted his head at my statement, blue eyes wide.

"A different world," he contemplated, "as in, a different dimension?"

I shrugged, "I'm not the most scientific of girls – I'm not really sure. Maybe you're an alien or something."

Chad laughed, before he ran a hand through his hair in thought. After a pause, he spoke, "When my father was alive…" He suddenly winced visibly at the thought of his late father, and so did I. The story hadn't been fully explained in the book yet, but I had a brief idea of what had happened.

Chad's father had passed away when he was thirteen and so Chad's uncle gained custody of him, as Chad's mother had took off when he was eight years old. Along with the custody of Chad, his uncle got all of his father's money, and the science lab that he had led when he was alive.

I went to place a comforting hand on Chad's shoulder, but stopped when coming in about an inch radius of him as a small electric current ran up my arm. I pulled away immediately. Chad didn't seem to notice.

"When my father was alive…" He repeated, taking a deep breath, "He always had a suggestion about different worlds – _dimensions_. He was more into studying biology, making people better… but he was so intrigued by the thought of physics and alternate dimensions…" He looked to me with a smile. "Sounds plausible, don't you think? There could be thousands and thousands of alternate dimensions that we don't even know about… and I could be in one right now, here, with you." He placed a hand on my lap again and smiled. I found myself smiling right back.

Chad was so intriguing. I could just sit and listen to him speak all day with that soft, smooth voice of his that was so much more beautiful than the one I'd imagined for sixteen chapters while reading in my head.

Another reason why real-Chad was a cut above book-Chad.

"Well, I suppose an alternate dimension theory could be a perfectly believable explanation why I am not in my world…" Chad pondered, "But I still don't understand. If this is an alternate dimension, then how did I travel to your dimension? How does this author know Monica's thoughts, enough to write them down like that? How does she even know so much about our lives?"

I let my hands fall limply into my lap, "I don't know." I confessed with a frown. Chad sighed.

"This is all so confusing…" He then flashed me a small smile, "Thank you, though, Sonny. For taking me in like this; helping me try to make sense of it all. I am in debt to you."

"You are." I laughed, "Thanks to you, I almost got killed twice last night. You owe me."

Chad smirked, "Deal." He leaned forward and kissed my wrist. I felt all to faint, once again, at his touch.

"Will you stop that?" I said, snatching my hand from his grasp. Chad raised a mocking eyebrow.

"Ah…" He grinned, "Another girl, intimidated by the likes of Chad Dylan Cooper."

Ah. So this was the egoistic side of Chad. Yay. In the books, I'd found egoistic Chad hot. Now I was experiencing him first hand, well... it was still super hot.

But also really annoying.

"Not intimidated." I said, "Freaked out, more like. Guys don't do that in my world, 'kay?"

"Nor in mine," Chad admitted with a shrug, "But my dad raised me to be a gentleman. Sometimes I swear he thought we were in the eighteen-hundreds."

I spluttered out a laugh, "Well, unfortunately, there's not a single guy out there like that anymore."

That's why I had such a massive crush on Chad. He was not only dark and mysterious and cool and breathtakingly handsome – he was also a total gentleman. Facing the jerkiness of the jocks at school every day (Gemma's boyfriend was a basketball player. And a jerk of one too, who ganged up with his girlfriend to humiliate me every day), it was nice to come home and read about the sweet, kind, old-fashioned Chad Dylan Cooper, wishing that someone like him really existed.

Oh, would you look at that. A guy like that did exist. He was sat on the couch next to me at that very second.

Chad placed a hand on my lap, stroking my upper leg softly. "Do men like that not exist here?"

"Nope."

Chad sighed, "We don't have many, of what I know." He said, "Then again, I've only seen a small cross section of them from Monica's school."

I blinked, "What about friends? Did you have any friends who were kinda sweet?"

Chad dropped his gaze to his lap.

"Um, my dad was my friend." He said softly, "I never really got a chance to venture out of the lab."

"Why not?"

He rubbed his nose, "It's a difficult story." He shrugged, "I'd tell you, but I..."

His trailing off told me everything. Chad didn't like to tell people - not even Monica - of his past. I was no exception, no special case. We'd only met last night, after all. I could've been anyone. I doubted Chad even fully trusted me.

"It's okay." I said, moving a little closer to him and nudging him with my shoulder. "I understand."

Chad scoffed, "Has this author exposed that in the book yet, too?"

"No." I said, "I'm just saying that you don't have to tell me what's wrong, because I know you don't want to. I know a lot about you - you're one interesting person to read about." I resisted from calling him a 'character', not wanting to rile him up. Chad smiled a little.

"I'm glad I am so entertaining to you." He said, cocking his chin up a little in pride. I giggled.

"Don't be so flattered." I said, "Sometimes you can be a real jerk from what I've seen."

"Am I as bad as these jerks from your world?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, much worse." I joked, elbowing him. Chad caught on, laughing for a second, before everything went quiet.

"Well, these jerks you speak of aren't worthy of you, Sonny." He said sweetly after a few seconds of silence. He reached for my hand, but didn't kiss it this time, as if he remembered my previous reaction to his kiss. I might have been a little disappointed, but I was really too busy looking into those hypnotic azure eyes to really notice or care.

"From what I've seen, you are a fine young woman. Kind, caring, helpful. Not to mention you're quite a pretty young girl." That didn't go unnoticed. This was the second time since we'd met that he'd suggested that he thought I was pretty. I could've fainted from pure happiness. "Any man would be lucky to have you." He added.

I scoffed, "You should try telling them that."

"Well, then, maybe I will. Someday." He said with a confident smile. I winced. Something about the thought of Chad Dylan Cooper confronting the guys at my school didn't settle right. I wasn't worried for Chad or anything, oh no. I was worried for his opponents. The guy could move a tree, throw a man with no difficulty - I was fairly certain that if Chad met any of the jock squad, it would be their funeral. Or at least their going-into-intensive-care day. Okay, so that wasn't as catchy, but you get the point.

"Good morning, Sonny!"

Tawni's chirpy voice caused me to jump about three feet off of the couch. Chad, unfazed, just smiled at me, biting back a laugh.

"You found that funny, Cooper?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Immensely." He nodded, before lowering his voice and bringing his face closer to mine, "Now, play along."

"Play along with what?" I asked, but Chad didn't answer. He didn't get a chance. Tawni was stood in front of us, wearing the same clothes she was wearing last night.

"Ugh, why did I even sleep in these clothes?" She groaned, "They're all wrinkly now, and... and... _yuck_!"

"Oh, you fainted." Chad explained nonchalantly. I blinked. That wasn't true... completely, anyway. "Sonny and I were just walkin' along and we found you'd fainted in the park, so we brought you home and took you to bed."

Tawni's face scrunched up in thought, "The park?" She said disgustedly, "I don't remember that."

"Well, like I said, you fainted." Chad pointed out, "You were out for quite a while, too. It's not surprising that you don't remember."

Tawni nodded slowly, staring at Chad incredulously. "Sonny?" She said, her eyes fixed on Chad. Her voice had a hint of fear in it. It was clear that she needed my confirmation.

Chad subtly nodded to me and I realised what he'd meant by 'play along'. He wanted a cover story, and I had to back him up.

"Yeah, he's telling the truth." I said, "You were totally whacked, really sick - you kept mumbling somethin' about... bad seafood?" It came out sounding more like a question than a statement, like I was asking if she believed me. I felt bad, lying to my best friend, but surely there was a reason for Chad's cover story. And I wasn't going to betray his trust in me, even though it meant lying to my best friend.

"And..." Tawni pointed a finger in Chad's direction. "Who's this?"

"I'm a friend." Chad said coolly, leaning back in the couch, radiating nonchalance.

"My neighbour's daughter's aunt's son." I said, nodding, trying to match Chad's casual pose, but I ended up kicking the coffee table in front of me, knocking over a few of the china ornaments. Fortunately, they didn't break.

"Yeah, that's right." Chad said, "My, uh, aunt lives next door to Sonny, and I'm visiting for a week. Sonny and I went out for a walk, and we found you in the park, doubled over, moaning about a bad prawn that you'd eaten. And then you fainted, and we brought you home. "

Chad told the story with such confidence, I almost believed him too. Tawni nodded slowly, processing the information, before she brightened up.

"I suppose I'll go get dressed then!" She said chirpily. She shot me a look - a suspicious smile - before disappearing back up the stairs, and Chad and I were alone again. Chad smirked at me.

"Neighbour's daughter's aunt's son?" He raised an eyebrow at my stupid babble.

"Don't judge me." I stuck my tongue out at him, and he let out the most adorable chuckle I've ever heard.

"Whatever you say, Miss Sonny."

* * *

The morning slowly crept by - Chad and I spent it at Tawni's. I called Mom to tell her that I was okay and that I'd be home by dinner and that I was just hanging out with some friends. I didn't tell her about Chad, though. She wouldn't have understood.

She seemed fully satisfied that I was finally doing something besides reading or writing songs or stories. I'm not the most sociable person - sometimes I prefer the company of my own thoughts, or the characters in a book.

And right now, I was very much enjoying the company of Chad Dylan Cooper.

Chad spent his morning investigating everything there was to know about the book and the author. He spent hours on Google and Wikipedia and any other site he could find, searching up anything he could think of in his quest to discover what he was doing outside of his world and in mine. I watched while he worked, fascinated. His fingers hopped so rapidly along the keyboard, and he was staring at the screen so intensely, I was worried it might explode.

"Are you sure your eyes aren't getting tired? Do you need a break?" I asked him at one point while I brought him in a glass of water. It was one in the afternoon - he'd been researching for nearly four hours and didn't show any signs of a headache or any tiredness of any kind. I envied him. I wished I could go on non-stop for four whole hours like that.

"I'm fine." He said quickly, his eyes not lifting from the screen. I shrugged, picking up the book. A light bulb went off in my head.

"Maybe we should read the book!" I suggested with a smile, "It might have a clue in it as to what happens next in your story!"

Chad smiled, turning to face me. "Sounds like a plan!"

"So, what do you last remember?" I asked, flicking aimlessly through the book, "What happened before you met me?"

"Um..." Chad frowned in thought, "I was in the forest... yeah, I met with Monica. My uncle's men had told me that she was working against me... and I believed them." He ducked his head, "I curse myself for believing them..."

I grimaced sympathetically for Chad. The poor guy didn't know who to trust. I also knew exactly where in the book he was talking about.

"I told her to run, when they started approaching. She ran while I stayed behind to get rid of them, but a couple of them cowered away and chased her." He let his head fall into his hands, "Now I don't know where she is."

I gulped. "I do." I said in a small voice. I knew exactly where she was - it had been the bit I read in the book under the tree before I met Chad. His head snapped up.

"You do?" He said, his eyes filled with hope, "Where is she? Is she safe? Can you take me to her?"

I bit my lip, shaking my head solemnly. His face fell, his eyes grew dark and hopeless again.

"I don't know exactly where she is." I said gently, "All I know is... they got her."

Chad knew exactly what I meant. He shook his head, mouthing 'no' to himself repeatedly. I closed my eyes, bowing my head.

"Did they kill her?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"No." I said. Chad let out a sigh of relief, and I refused to tell him why they hadn't killed her yet. She was Chad bait, and if he found out, he'd be set on freeing her, saving her... even if the cost for her safety was his life.

I couldn't let him get killed. Not Chad Dylan Cooper.

I flicked to chapter 16, where I'd just reached last night, before I'd met Chad. I turned over to the next page to be met with nothing but blank. Just a blank page.

Baffled, I flicked through the rest of the second half of the story that I hadn't yet read, but it was all gone. Blank paper was left where the ink once laid.

"It's gone." I said, suddenly shaking. Chad's cool blue eyes narrowed.

"What's gone?"

"The rest of the story!" I said, before finally putting two and two together. "...You're here, which means that you're not in the book. And the story can't go on without you."

Chad's eyes widened in realisation, before his eyelids slammed shut.

"This is all getting way too confusing..." He mumbled.

I agreed with him on that one.

* * *

I decided to go home soon after that. I just wanted to go home, to my normal life, my lovely mother, my book that wasn't half-missing.

Meeting Chad was a dream. But this? This was a nightmare.

I'd nearly been killed twice. I couldn't figure out what Chad was doing outside the book, and moreover, there was the fact that his uncle's henchmen were around here somewhere, and they could come out at any time and attack.

Maybe even _kill_.

I asked Chad if he wanted to come home with me or stay with Tawni. Chad scanned Tawni and her attire - her leopard-print jacket and crazily high heels (why she was wearing them inside, I have no clue) - with narrow eyes and in an instant decided that he'd rather stay with little Converse-wearing me. I was flattered. I suppose there was also the fact that Tawni didn't know who Chad really was. That was probably a more logical reason for staying with me than joining me because I wasn't wearing as flashy clothing as Tawni. The girl was dreaming of becoming a model, and she sure looked the part, with the exception of not being the stereotypical size-zero, which I was grateful for. I didn't want my best friend to get unhealthy just to obtain her goals.

Tawni offered us her car, and I accepted. Chad was eager to not walk in case the henchmen were searching for him. He'd be able to get away much quicker in a car than on foot (though knowing that Chad ran at the speed of a cheetah, I thought that maybe that wasn't always the case).

Chad climbed in the car and popped the key in, and Tawni's little fancy convertible roared. I smiled a little - it made a fantastic noise for such a small car.

Before I could climb in the seat beside Chad, Tawni pulled me back inside the house, grinning suspiciously.

"What's up with you?" I asked, my eyes narrowing. This just resulted in further weird stares.

"Uh... Tawni?" I waved a hand in front of her face.

"So..." She grinned, playing with her hair delicately, "Chad's hot."

I couldn't help but nod. "He's cool. Why are you saying this?"

Tawni glanced around slowly, even though no-one else was in the house. She leaned in close and whispered, "Is there a lil' somethin'-somethin' goin' on there?"

My eyes widened, and I'm pretty sure I went bright red.

"No." I answered just a little too quickly. Tawni's blonde eyebrows shot up.

"Come on." She cooed, "You two went out on a "walk" last night." She put air-quotes around the last word, "Did he ask you out?"

"No."

"Hold your hand?"

"No." That was a lie; kind of, anyway. Chad had held - and _kissed_ - my hand many times since last night.

"Kiss you?"

"No!" Well, not in the way she was thinking. Not full-on the lips.

Tawni pouted, "Too bad. But I bet it'll happen soon!" She giggled strangely, "You've got the hots for him, don't you?"

"No." I lied again. What was it with Chad that made me have to lie to my best friend? "Besides, he has a girlfriend. Or, at least, a girl he really likes. He's not into me in that way."

Tawni pouted, "There's a connection, there..." Her eyes brightened mischievously, and she started to sing, "Love is in the air!"

I rolled my eyes, whacking her semi-softly on the arm.

"Chad's just grateful for me right now." I said, "I'm helping him."

"For now…" She cooed, grinning, before shooing me back out of the house. I rolled my eyes. My mental best friend…

Chad honked the horn loudly, beckoning me quickly with his hand. Watching my best friend wave me off, grinning hugely, I swallowed hard and turned back to the car where Chad was impatiently waiting for me.

* * *

**A/N: Dun dun duhh :P What's going on? Are Sonny and Chad gonna search for Monica? Or are the evil henchmen guys gonna find 'em first? Find out next time!**

**Review, guys! And I'll update quicker! ;D**

**See y'all around!**

**~Amy x**


	5. Sleepover

**A/N: Hi guys! I'm really sorry that this took so long. I promise (for real this time) next time will be wayyy quicker :)**

**I don't own Sonny with A Chance...**

* * *

**Lost Soul**

**Chapter 5 - Sleepover**

Chapter 5

"So…" Chad said as I got into the car next to him, waving goodbye to my best friend who was stood in the doorway. "Sonny?" I nodded. He smiled. "And your friend is, uh, Tawni?"

I nodded again, "Tawni Eliza Hart. Nice girl. Little bit self-centred, but she's a sweetheart."

Chad smiled sweetly, chuckled to himself. "She seems a nice enough girl. Could talk for the country, though – she's got quite a mouth on her."

I smiled, "Tawni Hart, ambassador to America?" I chuckled at the thought, "First order of business – the lack of beauty products in her personal bathroom."

Chad laughed louder this time – his laugh was free, happy. I felt like a bit of a Mary-Sue, giggling obediently in time with his laughter, which was high-pitched for a guy. Chad had a higher-pitched voice than most guys, higher than I'd imagined it from the book, but it still managed to send a satisfying shiver down my spine.

"You can insult that girl as much as you want, but she still saved your life last night."

"Kind of." I shrugged, "Really, she just showed up at exactly the right time." I chuckled at an afterthought, "To be honest, she saved your life, not mine. I was personally so convinced you were a crazed lunatic that I was preparing to commit homicide."

Chad smirked, "A little girl like you?" He chuckled to himself as if to be laughing at some inside joke, "I'd have loved to have seen the sight."

I winced suddenly in slight embarrassment, realising how stupid the thought was. Defenceless little ol' me, harming Chad – the strong, mysterious, possibly-indestructible fictional character? It was pretty obvious to me that that battle wouldn't lead to me being the victor. I wouldn't stand a chance.

"I am sorry, though." Chad said, his voice now gentle as he gazed at me apologetically. "About attacking you like that. It was inexcusable."

I shook my head, "It's okay, Chad." I assured him, giving him a warm smile. "I'm fine now. No harm done."

Chad frowned, his glare intensifying at the now-purple bruise on my cheek. Consequently, it went from purple to bright red.

"The way I was raised, hitting a woman is a hideous offence." He explained, "I thought you were working for my enemy… But that still gave me no right to spring on you!"

His hands balled tightly around the steering wheel, and began to shake. I'd seen this before, or, well, read it, in the book. He was angry. Hesitantly, in a moment of bravery, I reached out to touch his hand in a way Monica would in the book to calm him down. He snatched his hand away, his eyes hard, before he looked down in shame.

"Sorry." He apologised in a small voice.

"It's fine." I said gently. My voice shook a little, but there was no hostility. Chad gave me a careful smile, hiding his teeth as the smile was closed-mouthed.

"So…" Chad murmured, turning his attention back to the road, which made me much more comfortable. "This book… You're gonna have to update me on the facts."

"Oh, okay." I stuttered, realising that I was actually of use to Chad Dylan Cooper. I mean, I was, like, his biggest fan-girl. Despite not finishing the book yet, I pretty much knew him and his world inside-out.

Well, apart from the huge gaping part about his family and his past and why his uncle wanted him dead. Not even Monica, the girl who was more like a soul mate to Chad, knew that part.

"So," Chad cleared his throat, "What do we know so far? Go!"

"Oh, um," His authoritative tone caught me off guard, "You're here, in my world. Some of your uncle's henchmen are too. Consequently to that, the book has been discontinued from the point that I last read."

Chad nodded, "And the henchmen of S.O.U.L have Monica captured." He spat poisonously. I could hear the regret and revenge bubbling in his voice.

I sighed. "S.O.U.L is your dad's- I mean, uncle's- company, right?"

Chad shrugged, "Yeah, _was_ my dad's. And it was so much better in his hands."

"You know, I don't really know what S.O.U.L stands for." I admitted.

"Not like I've given you reason to. Nor has it been said in that book." He glared daggers at the book in my lap momentarily, before his attention turned back to the road. "Secret Organisation for Understanding Life-forms." He explained after a few moments of silence, "So, just a fancy name for a group of biologists who wanted to help people."

"Oh," was all I could manage. Chad sighed.

"But my uncle wouldn't even try to help people unless it was _himself_ he was helping." He carped bitterly, staring at the road like his uncle was stood in front of the car and he was solely intent on running him over. I could tell he needed a lighter subject to focus on or he was going to explode.

"Your dad liked helping people?"

The fierce look on his face didn't fade, but he exhaled and his voice softened. "He loved it." Chad chuckled, shaking his head in a small motion. "He was too nice, my dad. Always wanting to help people, no matter what the cost. For all I know, that brought along his death." Despite the topic of death, Chad continued speaking like he was used to it. He probably was. "But that was all he'd wanted to do, from when he was in high school. Save lives. Help the weak. Kinda like a superhero without all the cool powers."

"Was he a doctor or something?"

"Yeah, he started out that way. He loved Biology from when he was a kid, and he was a natural at it. So, he was the perfect doctor. But still, he wanted more. He hated seeing people… _die_; the people he couldn't save, the family's reactions when he told them he couldn't save them. It became even worse when it almost happened to him…"

"What happened to him? Did he nearly lose a family member?"

Chad scowled. "A story for another day." He murmured.

"Oh, sorry." I smiled innocently, realising this subject was a delicate one. "Continue."

He took a deep breath and continued with his story, "So after this… _thing _happened, he kind of wanted to figure out a way to make everything back to the way it was. It affected our family a lot, and he wanted to fix everything and make… um, make the family member okay again."

"So he made S.O.U.L?"

"Precisely." He smiled softly, "S.O.U.L saved a life. My _father _saved a life; one that was very, very close to him. He bought a research lab and found a team who were as dedicated as he was, and they researched super hard on how to fix the unfixable. Of course, there were a few side effects that disallowed them from publishing their findings…"

"Side effects?"

"Gee, you like to interrupt, don't you?" Chad smirked, ruffling my hair like a little child. "Like I said, Miss Munroe – that's a different story, for a different day."

"Oh. 'Kay."

"Um…" Chad turned his attention back to the road, "We're in Hollywood. I don't know Hollywood. Directions, please?"

* * *

Eventually, we reached my apartment block. Chad offered to stay in the car, but I told him to come up with me. I had a clever plan to hide him in my closet. Well, that had always been my dream – to hide a fictional crush in my closet where he'd be mine forever.

…

Having him there with me now, it seemed like a very stupid, not to mention, extremely creepy, thing to do. Wow. I really _was_ strange.

I didn't really care though. I was on a mission.

I towed Chad up a two flights of stairs, even though I knew with his strength he could probably _carry_ me up the stairs, and down again, on a repeated cycle for days without breaking a sweat. I fished for the key inside my handbag and stuck it in the keyhole, not worrying about the noise.

"My mom should be at work, so we should have no-"

"Sonny, is that you?"

Mom's figure approached the door and I slammed it shut, not even stepping inside the house.

"Crap." I cursed. "She's _not _at work. I need to learn my mom's hours to perfection."

"Sonny, are you out there?" Mom's voice called, "Are you with someone?" She paused for a second, "Is it a boy?"

I blushed crimson, remaining silent. Chad was just staring at the door handle with his hand rubbing his chin. "I have an idea." He announced quietly, "Just… open the door and go along with it."

"She'll see you!" I hissed.

"What are you doing out there?" Mom chided. I could imagine her, hands on hips, and gulped. "Is that you, Sonny?"

"Who else has a key to our house?" I shot back.

"What are you _doing_?" She yelled, exasperated.

"One sec, Mom!" I called. Shakily, I put the key back in the hole and turned it, revealing my Mom on the other side of the door, just as I imagined her. Hands on hips, curious scowl on her lips.

"What's going on?" She asked, before her eyes reached Chad and bulged slightly. "Oh… hello!"

Chad suddenly reached straight for my hand, smiling kindly at my mother. I realised I was running out of clichéd ways to say I was blushing. Stupid adorable Chad.

"Hello, madam." Chad greeted my mom in a friendly tone, giving her a little bow. "You must be Mrs Munroe. I'm Chad Dylan Cooper, your daughter's boyfriend."

Mom was as shocked as I was. "_Boyfriend_?" She repeated, "Sonny, you never told me!"

My hand was getting slightly sweaty and clammy. Like someone had poured a bucket of water on it. Yuck. "Yeah, sorry…" I shot a glare at Chad, "It's just all so _new_."

"Can I please come in to your lovely home?" Chad continued, pre-rewarding my mom with a gracious and charming smile. Mom, seeming to have lost the ability to coherently form a sentence, babbled something like "bah- yah- strange boy…" and nodded, moving out of the way of the door. Chad paid her for her hospitality with another one of his winning smiles, before pulling me into the apartment.

"Where's your room, Sonny?" He asked me, still keeping up the overly-kind gentleman façade. "We need to talk in private, if that's okay with you, Mrs Munroe."

Mom blushed. "Uh… it's _Ms_ Munroe…" She corrected, "Um… and as long as nothing hap-"

"MOM!" I carped before she could finish, "DO NOT even FINISH that sentence!"

Mom rose her arms in defence, "Sorry, sweetie. You two have a nice…" She glanced between me and Chad, still seeming baffled beyond repair, "…chat." She scoffed, "Or whatever this is."

She disappeared into the kitchen before Chad could say anything else. Planting my palm on my face, I yanked Chad by his arm into my bedroom, slamming the door behind us and locking it. I never wanted to come out. I felt totally humiliated.

"Sonny?" Chad gave me an innocent, dazed look. "What's wrong?"

"_You_…" I poked my finger in his face, unable to come up with some kind of sentence to sum up the oddness that had just gone down. I could barely make out what had even happened.

Chad had said he was my… _boyfriend?_

I was almost a hundred percent I was dreaming now, so I continued, repetitively, to poke him in the face, and then the ribs.

I could feel his _abs. _

"Um… Sonny…" Regardless of my poking of Chad to make him disappear (as I was, somehow, still trying to convince myself this was all an illusion or dream of some kind, despite all the proof), he was still there, and staring at me now, quite befuddled. And I would've laughed at that, had it been in the book and had I not been experiencing his confusion first-hand.

"Stop talking." I warned him, now squeezing his arms. I felt creepy. I felt uncomfortable. I doubted the feeling was not mutual.

Chad noticeably shuffled along the floor, awkward. "Um… may I ask why?"

"'Cos you're not even supposed to _be_ here." I explained, letting go of his hands. I think Chad was grateful for that. I probably was going a little too far by now, and obviously terrifying him. Or at least making him ill at ease.

"Sorry." I mumbled, "This is all just… weird for me."

Chad scoffed, "At least you're at ease in your own world." He retorted, "This, well… this whole thing is just weird for me, too. On a much larger scale, in fact."

I had to agree there. Whatever I was going through, Chad was going through too – in an alternate dimension. I suppose I forgot that the invincible guy was probably as prone to nerves and anxiety and fear as the rest of us were. Well, maybe not on such a large scale, but the feelings had to be there. They were just part of human nature, and Chad was only human.

Um, _right_?

"Yeah, I forgot…" I twiddled my fingers, embarrassed, "Sorry…" I smirked, "_Boyfriend."_

Chad grinned, "Good cover, huh? When me and Monica were trying to avoid some henchmen, she came up with an alias for me and called me her boyfriend. They obviously thought it was legit and left us alone." He scoffed derisively at the memory, "Idiots."

I chuckled quietly, "Well, uh, my mom is not that much of an idiot. I think we need a cover story for that… my mom won't believe this story's "legit" – I've never had a boyfriend in my life." Much less one as mind-blowing as Chad, but I didn't say that out loud.

A simple smile played at his lips. "Kay. We'll come up with something else…"

* * *

It had been thirty minutes since we entered my room, and Chad and I walked out together, laughing. Mom lifted her head up from a book she was reading on the couch, narrowing her eyes as she saw us.

"Are you two alright?" She asked, putting her book down.

"Fine, Mom." I said, making a suitable distance between Chad and I. Chad, sticking to my instruction, didn't say a word.

Mom blinked slowly, "Alright…"

"Sorry, Mom, I wanna properly introduce Chad." I continued to speak, ushering Chad to step forward. Rather than giving a little bow like he did before, he just smiled and waved at my mom, who, trying to be polite, plastered a smile on her face and waved back too.

"Nice to meet you, Ms Munroe." Chad smiled kindly, "My name's Chad Dylan Cooper."

Mom acknowledged Chad's greeting with a nod. She shot me a look with her dark eyes and I mouthed to her that I'd tell her later.

"Well, um, Chad…" She murmured, her eyes darting between me and the boy at my side, "Would you like to join us for dinner? We're having meatloaf…"

"Meatloaf?" Chad raised an eyebrow. I elbowed him subtly in the gut and thanks to his hard-as-stone body, he didn't even wince. "I'd love to." He simply said.

* * *

"Well… Chad is an… interesting boy…"

It was evening. We'd finished dinner and I'd told Chad to wait outside in my car for a while. I gave him my cell phone and told him that when the Caller ID said "Home", he had to come up to the apartment and act out our little plan.

Chad and I had made up his alibi. He was a new student at my school who was staying for an unknown amount of time, but his parents were having problems. When he left our apartment to "get home", his character would apparently find his parents fighting and come back to our apartment, wanting somewhere to stay for the night. Mom loved charity – she wouldn't turn down a boy in need.

"He's nice." I agreed, washing the dishes for my Mom to get myself on her good side. Hopefully this would help soften her for Chad's arrival.

"And he's your… boyfriend?"

"Oh, he was only kidding." I say, forcing a chuckle. "He's a boy, he's my friend. Not my boyfriend."

Mom's eyebrows knitted together, "A boy with a strange sense of humour… interesting."

I could see the cogs in my mother's brain turning and could see she was clearly judging Chad as we spoke.

"But he's quite the gentleman." I pointed out, "He's really kind – not like any other guy at all."

Mom's frown turned to a twisted smile, "Not like other boys, indeed." She agreed.

Chad hadn't done a bad job at getting on my Mom's good side during dinner. He'd been kind, friendly, yet didn't get so close to make him seem like a total creep. I was proud of him – he was an impressive actor.

"Well, I'm glad you have a new friend, Sonny." Mom concluded, "He seems like he likes you very much, which is good, considering your… situation at school." She bit her lip, "I think he likes you quite a bit, though, so be careful. Don't give him the wrong idea."

"Mom, he likes someone else!" I moaned, imagining the beautiful and adventurous Monica. I wished she was here now so maybe she could help get her and Chad home. She was pretty, kind, and very smart. She was the heroine in a book. She could do anything she wanted, probably.

I was just a sixteen year old loner who got lucky (or _unlucky_) in meeting Chad. I had no special powers, no big brain, nothing really.

Chad wouldn't like _me. _Not like that. Especially when he had other flawless options to pick from, like Monica.

"Okay, okay…" Mom smiled, leaving the kitchen. Grabbing the home phone, I called my mobile number. Chad was up the stairs and banging on our door in seconds. I stuck my head carefully out of the kitchen, curious.

"Chad?"

Mom opened the door to a distressed-looking Chad.

"Ms Munroe, can I please talk to Sonny for a minute?"

I left the kitchen fully, forcing a look of innocence onto my face. "Chad, is everything okay?"

Chad shook his head simply, "My…" He looked down, like he was ashamed. I couldn't suppress the smirk on my face and was glad Mom was looking at the more convincing Chad. Watching him was like watching a soap opera. I could tell he had mentally planned this whole conversation.

"My parents were yelling when I got home…" He confessed, his eyes forced shut and his voice shaking. I could've sworn I was a crocodile tear fall down his cheeks. "I-I didn't want to face it… I didn't know where to go… I don't want to be a burden, but please, I don't have any family or anything here to turn to…"

He looked up at my Mom and I, eyes hopeful. "Can I please stay with you guys? Just for tonight? _Please_?"

I shot my eyes towards my Mom for the first time, hoping to see a glimpse of her reaction. Her eyes were kind and full of pity, and I smiled inside. She was buying it.

I gave my Mom the same puppy-dog eyes Chad was giving. "Mom, _please_?" I cried convincingly – it seemed I was a better actress than I gave myself credit for. "He's got nowhere to go… he- he can sleep on the couch! Or in my room! I'll sleep on the couch… and he'll pay for all his food, or I will! _Please_!"

Mom shook her head slowly, "Okay, okay." She sighed, giving in, before smiling kindly at Chad. "I'm sorry to hear about your parents, Chad. You're welcome here as long as you wish."

With that, she turned and left the room, and Chad and I were left alone. When I was sure Mom couldn't hear us, I grinned at Chad.

"Success." I exclaimed.

* * *

Chad was willing to sleep in his clothes for the night. I promised we'd go shopping for him some new clothes after school tomorrow, as what he was wearing was all he had. He was going to spend the day in the mall, and not spend the whole say at my house, so my Mom didn't get suspicious when he didn't leave with me for school, and then I'd drop him off in the morning and meet him there in the afternoon. After that, we'd try and sort out what was going on, why he was here, how to get him home. It was going to be hard work, but I wanted Chad to return home into _Lost Soul, _safe and sound.

No matter how much I'd miss him when he was gone.

"Sonny?"

Chad was tucked under a blanket I'd found in my room, leaning against the couch pillows. Being a gentleman, he'd proposed that he'd sleep on the couch and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. His eyes were dark underneath them and he looked more pitiful than I could imagine, like a small child.

A cute child.

"Yeah, Chad?"

Chad rewarded me with a smile, a smile that seemed to take up a chunk of his energy, "Thank you for this. I am eternally grateful."

I gave him a warm smile back. "It's okay, Chad. I'm only treating you the way I'd treat anyone who needed help."

"You're a kind girl, Sonny." Chad proclaimed, almost looking proud of me. "Kind and helpful. Great qualities."

I just blushed. "Goodnight, Chad."

"Sweet dreams, Miss Munroe."

* * *

**A/N: There ya go! :) What do you think? Like it? Love it? :P I know not much happened, but it's gonna get a lot busier soon! And what are all these "stories" that Chad was saying he'd save for another day? Who knows? I do!**

**Reviewing gets you cookies! ;D**

**~Amy x**


	6. We

**A/N: Oh my pie, guys. Is this not, like, the fastest time I've updated anything in probably a year? *smirk* I found this chapter so easy. I just had so much fun with it, so I hope you guys like it! :)**

**Thank you's go out to new reviewers **Personally-Summer **and** TrueLoveHurts. **Thanks guys! I hope you continue to enjoy the story :D**

**I don't own Sonny with A Chance.**

* * *

**Lost Soul**

**Chapter 6 - We**

_Pain. Constant, inescapable pain._

_My head was aching; I was unable to suppress any kind of pain that I was feeling. I didn't even know how to stop it – I couldn't see anything but black so I didn't know what was causing the pain and where it was coming from. But wherever it was, it was strong enough to be spreading, like a parasite, to each and every limb, organ… I didn't realise it was possible to feel so much pain in so many areas and still be alive._

_And the worst part was, I couldn't exactly figure out what it really was. It wasn't a stabbing pain, or numbness. It didn't feel like some kind of physical injury._

_It was a yearning. An affair of the heart. Something so strong and so deep that no medicine could heal it. It was like a headache, but it struck everywhere in my body. I'd never experienced anything like it. _

_One thing rose above the pain though. A name specifically. _

_His piercing blue eyes manifested themselves into my mind, glowed away in the darkness, like the image had been scratched out onto a rock and couldn't be erased. _

_I knew who I was thinking of. I knew those eyes. I'd recognise them anywhere._

_Like a healer, the thought of him somehow suppressed the pain. Like an antibiotic. It took down the parasite growing in every corner of my body, my brain. I found myself healed. _

_The darkness faded; the eyes faded too. A scene formed in my brain. I could see again. _

_I was in a room. A simple, boring room with a window and a chair and a lamp and that was it, but there was a body in the seat. _

_I recognised the body – long dark hair, pretty mocha skin, brown eyes. A memory of the figure rang in my head like a bell, but I still felt too weak to try and root around in the corners of my mind to find it. I was tired - in a dream state, possibly._

_The girl in front of me wore a blank expression. She didn't blink, she didn't open her mouth to speak. I tried to start a conversation with her. _

"_Um… hello?"_

_I heard a voice in my mind; it replied with a kind, _Hello. _I knew it was coming from the girl in front of me – the memory in the back of my mind fit the kind voice to the pretty face. I knew I'd never heard the girl speak before, but the voice was how I'd always pictured her to sound. Sweet, kind, soprano. _

Sonny. _She knew my name._

"_Yes?"_

_Her pretty face was still, but I saw her jerk a little forward in the chair, like she was addressing me. _

You're like me, Sonny.

_I blinked, "I'm sorry?" _

_The voice in my mind paused, but she continued soon enough. _You and I, we are very alike.

_She closed her eyes, and suddenly I couldn't see. Just black. Just like before. I could feel the pain I thought I had conquered and, this time, could hear men talking in low, angry voices. I swallowed hard. _

"_I don't like this." I told her. Luckily she hadn't taken over my speech as well as my sight. _

I don't either. _She told me sympathetically. _It hurts, doesn't it? It scares you?

"_Yes, it does." I replied, before adding harshly, "Stop it."_

I need to show you something. _The voice replied, almost like she was begging, _You're my only hope. I need your help.

_Her pleading tone made me sympathetic. I swallowed, fiddling my fingers together, before I sighed. "Alright." I said, "What's wrong?"_

_The blue eyes slowly faded back into my vision. They blinked a couple of times, but their radiant blue colouring lit up the darkness of the vision. With their arrival, her pain – our pain, both the girl's and the pain she was reflecting to me – disappeared. _

_I knew what this meant. The bearer of these blue eyes was the hero. He vanquished the torture she – _we_ – were feeling. _

I need him. _The voice simply stated, _I need him here. He needs to get me out of here.

_Maybe it was because of this weird telepathy thing I was feeling, but I understood her. I put name to face quickly. "Monica."_

_She opened our eyes, and I could see her in the chair, smiling. _Precisely, _her voice spoke in my mind._

"_And you want me to bring him to you."_

Yes.

_I didn't know how to reply. How was I supposed to take Chad to save her when I didn't even know where she was? She was in a totally different universe to me right now anyway – there was no way I could find her even if I looked forever. _

_Monica smiled again. _Sonny, you are wrong.

_I blinked, and realised she could hear my thoughts like I could hers. She continued._

Remember your book, Sonny. The words in your book disappeared, right?

"_Yeah…"_

_My_ words. _She continued. _The book is from _my_ perspective. You believe the book has gone because Chad is gone, right?

_My eyes widened in realisation. My hands dropped to my sides. "They're your words… but they stopped coming from the book… because you're no longer in the book!"_

_She stood, _Right again, Sonny.

"_You're in _my_ world! But- but if you want me to bring him to you, how- how am I supposed to find you?"_

Sonny…

_A different voice, an older voice, was now calling my name. I groaned. My mother was waking me up. _

_Monica took a few steps towards me. She embraced me quickly. I could feel her breath on my back. She spoke again – this time, through her lips. _

"_I believe in you, Sonny." She told me, determined and strong, "You're my only hope."_

And then I was in my room, in my bed. Mom smiled down at me.

"School time, sweetie. Chad's up – he's been waiting for you for thirty minutes." She scoffed, "That boy sure _is_ different."

And with that, she was out of the room.

I blinked, taking some time I remember my crazy dream. I'd learnt some things – one, Monica was in my world. Two, she needed Chad's help; she was trapped, by those voices I heard in our heads – the voices of the S.O.U.L. men, I presumed. And three, Monica trusted me to help Chad find her and save her.

Like the sidekick helping the hero to save the princess.

A weight I'd never known was suddenly present on my shoulders. It was no longer out of pity and human nature that I was going to help Chad. It was like a duty, destiny.

A force was _driving _me to save her.

I still had so many questions – why Monica picked _me. _How she could speak to me telepathically, how she could force me to see and feel what she could. How she was able to get into my mind, my dreams. Questions I would've asked her, had my Mom not woke me from the dream.

Was that all it was? Just some crazy, sleep-deprived dream?

Or maybe it was real. A calling.

Maybe it was destiny that Chad had met me in the park the other day. I didn't know, and I wasn't even sure if Monica would know herself. She was just an ordinary girl in her world, like I was in mine. And in my world she was helpless, unknowing, unsafe.

And I was the know-all in my world. And, being the knowledgeable one here (in some way, I guess), I had to do everything in my power to reunite Chad and Monica.

Even though I selfishly and subconsciously wanted Chad all to myself.

* * *

"Ah. Morning, Sonny!"

Chad gave me a large smile as I walked through the door to the living room. He was sat on the couch with a glass of juice that Mom had probably got him, and an apple was sat on the coffee table in front of him. The blanket I'd given him the night before to sleep under was neatly folded and placed on the back of the chair, and the pillows on the couch were perfectly fluffed. For a second I wondered if my mother had been responsible for that or if Chad was more of a clean freak than her. It didn't look like someone had slept in this room – that was for sure.

I sat next to Chad, sending him a smile back. I reached for the TV remote and flipped on some cheesy morning show where they show you the weather and traffic and all that stuff. Chad was squinting at the TV, looking pretty much like an investigator. A creepy thought occurred to me as I realised something.

"Don't tell me you've never seen a TV before." I snorted.

"Sonny." He turned to me, saying my name almost condescendingly. "Just because my dad raised me like we were in the nineteenth century doesn't mean I'm actually from that period."

"Oh-ho, really, old chap?" I shot back, putting on an overly snobby English accent. Chad smirked.

"We were watching one last night."

"Oh, dear, we were, my good fellow! Jolly good!"

Chad laughed. "You're crazy, Sonny." He declared, picking up the red apple and taking a bite out of it.

"Call me whatever you want," I said, speaking in a lower volume to not alert my mother, "but I have some information concerning our little predicament."

Chad's eyes widened and his mouth formed a little 'o' shape.

"You discovered something? What?" He hissed, looking over his shoulder to check my Mom was still in the kitchen.

I reached for the _Lost Soul_ book abandoned on the coffee table and flicked to the final page that still had print on it. Chad was staring at it intensely, and then he stared up at me with wide eyes, waiting for an explanation. I inhaled, thinking through my logic just to make sure everything I was about to say made proper sense.

"Well… remember how we were saying that the words in the book have disappeared, and that is all because you have left the book?" Chad nods in acknowledgement. "Well, I was thinking… I had this dream… and it made me realise something…"

Chad's eyebrows furrow together. I take another deep breath, my heart beats a little faster than before.

I swallowed hard before continuing, "Well, I- look at the book. Look at the words. What do you see?"

Chad's head dropped for a few seconds. "A book." He stated, "With words." He smirked now.

"Chad, be serious. This is a book-"

"I've already established that…"

"A book in Monica's point of view, from her perspective." I continue, like he hadn't interrupted. "So why would your leaving have any affect on the flow of her words?"

Chad blinked, properly serious now. "…What are you trying to say, Sonny?"

"I'm saying that, well, maybe this book is like… like an account. An account of Monica's life, from her view. Like… her whole life story... or at least, part of it. Her past, present, and future, or, a small portion of her past and future, is in this book, and you and her were living these words through…" I gulped, realising that this whole thing was larger than I'd realised. "But the point I'm trying to make is – if this shows Monica's past, present and future, and the book ends before it properly should, then that means the streaming of Monica's thoughts was interrupted. The words have stopped because-"

"Because Monica's no longer thinking them…" Chad finished, looking distraught.

"Not inside the book, anyway." I corrected, realising he thought that I believed that Monica was dead. His expression softened at least at my little comment. He shrugged, before an expression of shock hit his face like a bulldozer. His eyes widened, his mouth straight.

"Are… are you saying Monica's _in this world too?" _

I nodded. "She isn't dead, anyway. I know so."

Chad blinked, "How do you know?"

"Um…" I thought about this explanation carefully, not wanting to sound like an idiot. "She… she was in my dream. And she asked me for help. She asked me to help you find her. It… it felt too real. Like she was really talking to me. She couldn't have been dead. She felt too… _alive_."

Chad's head tilted. Clearly he thought I was insane.

His face was calculating – I guess he was summing everything up. It took him precisely ten seconds before his face hardened and he turned and headed for the door. His footfalls were hard and fast, and I could tell he was in a hurry. But why?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I called after him, running as he opened the door before slamming it behind him. I caught up quickly, panting a little. "Chad… where are you going?"

"To find Monica." He said monotonously, "And that we're going home."

"_What_?" I breathed. No, this wasn't it. This wasn't the end. It wasn't supposed to be this way, I could feel it. "No, no, Chad, wait!"

"Thank you for your hospitality and help, Sonny," He said in the same monotone, stopping to press the button on the elevator. There was a ding and the door gently and slowly opened. "I'll continue on my own from here."

I shoved past him (which was an impressive feat for little old me) and blocked the door with my limbs, spreading out in the shape of an 'x'. "No, no, no! You're not going! I need to get you to the mall, remember?"

"Change of plans." He simply said, picking me up like an abandoned toy on a stairwell and plopping me down beside him. "Have a nice life, Sonny."

Desperate, I dived into the elevator with him. He sighed, planting his hand on his forehead.

"Sonny, go back up to your apartment."

"I can't." I said, folding my arms and mimicking his dark tone, "I'm in an elevator."

He nearly growled. "When we get out of here, you're going _straight_ back up and get ready for school and _I'm_ going to find Monica."

"You mean _we're _gonna find Monica."

"There's no _we, _Sonny."

"But I wanna help!" I was pretty much yelling now. Chad, somehow, was keeping his temper under control, though his fists were tightly clenched. "C'mon, Chad, please?"

"It's too dangerous." He gave a quick excuse for himself. Oh, like that was going to stop me.

"I don't care." I insisted, "Just 'cos I'm a girl doesn't make me useless, you know."

"Oh, I know." Chad sighed, "Monica's given me that talk enough times. I just _don't _want you to get hurt."

I resisted melting at that comment, sticking to my guns and, hence, my attitude. "Oh, why, because little me'll just end up being more of a hindrance than a help?"

"Sonny, I don't have time for this…"

The elevator door opened, and Chad was out before I realised. Unsure what to say, I let out the first thing I thought of.

"I know where Monica is!"

That stopped him in his tracks. "…You do?"

"…Well, no. _But _I did talk to her in my dream last night. And she wants my help. She told me so. Maybe… maybe she knows that this is, like, _fate _or something."

Chad heaved out a sigh. I fidgeted on the spot. The silence was irritating me.

He finally turned back, walking towards me at lightning pace. "You'll be putting your life on the line, Sonny."

"It'll be an adventure." I shrugged, even though part of me was worried. I'd already nearly died twice – it wasn't the nicest feeling.

"They won't quit 'til they get what they want." He emphasised. I didn't know why he thought it would make a difference.

"We'll take 'em down." I seemed almost arrogant now. Chad seemed uncomfortable. He fidgeted on the spot, like having an inner battle. He puffed out a sigh, like the explosion deciding the winner had just been cast.

"Fine." He shrugged, holding his hands up in defeat, "Fine! It's your life. I can't guarantee safety, though."

"But, you'll try, right?"

He rolled his eyes, "Sure."

"Cool."

"You're a handful, Sonny Munroe." He groaned. I rewarded him with a large smile, patting his cheek audaciously.

"I know!" I said, skipping back to the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Chad yelled after me.

"I need to get changed for school." I called back over my shoulder.

"Hmph. I'll wait here then."

"Yes, you will." I shouted, giving him one last glare over my shoulder as the elevator door opened. He just scoffed and folded his arms as I stepped into the elevator and turned to face him.

"Don't take too long, or I may just leave without you."

I stuck my tongue out, and then laughed, "You wouldn't dream of it." The elevator door shut in front of me, and he was out of sight.

* * *

I wasn't late to school, surprisingly. The mall was empty and boring – hardly anyone was around, that is, apart from the early-morning shoppers and the exhausted workers who were awake too early for their own good.

Oh, and Chad, of course.

He looked at the mall when I dropped him off with almost distain. He glanced back at me, as if to say _"Really? You want me to wait here?" _I sighed, shook my head to myself and ushered him forward with my hand.

"Go on!" I yelled out of my car window, "Have a look around! Get to know everything! But… don't do anything stupid."

Chad shrugged, "I dunno the meaning of _stupid._"

"Sure." I rolled my eyes, "Not in your programming, is it, robot man?"

He glowered at me. "Ha, ha."

"You got the money I gave you?" I checked with him. He patted his back jeans pocket to signify 'yes'. "Good. Get some lunch in the little café when you get hungry. There are signs all over the place – you'll find somewhere to eat."

"Eat. Chill. Sit and be bored waiting." Chad checked off his imaginary list sarcastically, "Got it."

"Oh, and Chad?"

"Yeah?"

I gave him a silly smile, "Try not to break anything."

Chad returned the smile with a smirk, "I can't promise anything." He warned, before turning and heading into the entrance.

And he was gone.

My palms were sweaty for him even as I sat down at my desk in English Lit, a little early for class this week because I wanted to find something to take my mind off of Chad and put it on a book that wasn't _Lost Soul. _Apparent duties aside, I still had school work to do.

I'd brought my copy of the book we were studying, _The Scarlet Letter, _from my locker, and opened it at a random page, hardly paying attention to the words on the page. I was too busy thinking about Chad – was he okay? Had he caused any mischief or destroyed anything yet? I pictured, with a shudder of fear, me arriving at the mall after school only to see that Chad had (accidentally or purposely, take your pick) burned the whole building to the ground.

The bell rang and a few more students walked into the room; mostly the more well-behaved students. A girl with mousy brown hair and warm green eyes sat next to me with a wide beam on her face, and I sent a smile back to her.

Christy Croft was one of the less popular girls in the school, but that didn't mean that I didn't like her. If anything, I favoured her over girls like Gemma; the cruel, the heartless, the trendy…

Why was it girls like that who got so damn popular? I didn't get it. Were the bad qualities the ones people looked for these days in their friends? Or did they just favour all the make-up over the manners? I didn't get it.

Christy sat with me every English lesson because her friends weren't in this class, which made me feel a little better, a little loved. After all, all my friends didn't go to this school – I was the loner here. Christy was one of those kind people who actually bothered to look up, smile, and notice I was alive.

I bet sometimes that if Tawni went to my school, there would be a lot more people doing that, just because I was hanging out with her. But I guess the satisfaction of being noticed just because of my aspiring-supermodel friend really seemed like a hollow victory.

"Morning, Sonny!" Christy smiled, her happy voice ringing like a song.

"Hey, Christy." I replied. Her eyes lit up, the same way they did every time we spoke. It was nice. Nice to be noticed – no – _valued _by someone.

"How are you today?" She asked me. A simple question – a simple conversation. I could barely remember having one of those.

"I'm fine, thanks." I nearly lied. There was something eating at my brain which, of course, I couldn't tell her. I couldn't dare. "How are you?"

"Great, thanks!" She grinned, launching into a story about how she'd discovered how her favourite movie was getting a sequel out last night. I smiled and nodded and was glad that, for just a few minutes, life was sort of back to normal. She didn't ask me any questions that reminded me of Chad and so I pretty much forgot about him for the first few hours of the day.

Shame it couldn't last.

"SONNY!"

I could hear the voice from inside the library, and I swear it was coming from outside. I was comfy at lunch in my favourite room in the whole school, along with the music room and the auditorium, reading a light-hearted comedy to keep my mind off of the other book in my life at that moment. It was a story about a talking dog that should really be read at elementary schools rather than high schools, but it promised, regardless, to be a funny book to keep my mind off of Chad. And it would've worked, had Chad himself not strode into the room at a fast-than-average-human pace, almost knocking over a bookshelf.

The librarian watched him with a shocked look, as well as the other students that were in here for homework or quiet reading time. The shock on their faces grew ever larger as Chad stopped beside me. I heard whispering and gulped.

I had no idea how Chad had even _got _in the school – we had gates that no-one but the stupidest dared to open. Then I remembered just who I was talking about.

"Chad, what are you _doing_?!" I hissed under my breath. He ignored me.

"Sonny, you're taking too long!" He hissed right back, "What are _you_ doing?"

"_Reading_." I said, shoving my book in his face, "In _school. _That thing that I, like, _have to _go to! Be patient!"

"Hey, patient is my middle name." Chad said coolly, "But I'm bored."

"Well, Chad Patient Dylan Cooper, somebody's middle name should've been contradictory."

Chad just scowled, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the exit, leaving the book abandoned and open on the desk.

"Chad, I can't go anywhere!" I insisted, "I still have two more lessons."

"Relax, I have a plan. Just follow my lead."

Shutting up and not wanting to have a second argument with Chad in just today, I followed him along like an obedient dog to what seemed to be the offices side of the school. How Chad knew his way around, I'll never know.

We were just outside the receptionist's office, and Chad winked at me subtly, before exclaiming sympathetically, "Sonny, you don't look so good!"

Catching on to his act, I held my stomach like I was in pain, and pulled a sickly face. Chad grinned and gave me the thumbs up, before the receptionist, Mrs Addams, burst out of her office and into the corridor. Chad was stroking my back comfortingly, before he turned to face Mrs Addams, who had a confused expression on her face.

"Who are you?" She asked, pushing her dark locks back behind her shoulders. Chad thought of something on the spot.

"I'm Sonny's cousin. She called me saying she didn't feel too good, so I came to check she was okay."

I let out a groan in pain for good measure. Mrs Addams put a hand to her heart and pouted at me patronisingly.

"Oh, sweetie, you should go home." She decided, "Don't worry, I'll alert your next teacher. Who do you have?"

"Trig with Mr Bailey." I moaned, doubling over for affect. I felt awful doing this, but I wasn't about to argue with Chad again. It was irritating and I'd hardly won the last one.

"Nicely done." Chad whispered to me as we turned and walked away, "You're getting better at this lying thing. Considered being an actress before?"

"Shut up." I murmured, still clutching my stomach in case Mrs Addams came back to check. "How did you even get here? How did you know I went to school here?"

He shrugged. "Looked on a computer at the mall at all the schools in this area and was lucky enough to find you at the first one I went to. Now c'mon, we have work to do."

I smiled a little for the first time, slightly grateful to Chad's plan. I really hated Trig.

"To the mall!" I cheered, before covering my mouth in shock. Luckily, Mrs Addams was gone.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! And remember, reviewing gets you cookies! *Oprah style* You get a cookie! You get a cookie! Everybody gets cookies!**

**See y'all next time :D**

**~Amy x**


	7. Belonging

**A/N: Heheh.**

**Hey.**

**So. **

**I'M SO SORRY! I promise I have an excuse for my unforgivable two-month wait on this story, and the crazy fact that I haven't posted _anything _since Christmas Day! It's a pretty crap excuse, but it's one. And that is, well, Before Christmas I had mock exams, so I was revising and stuff for those. Christmas was when I decided, rather than using it to get loads of writing done, I'd foolishly spend it getting far too into multiple TV shows and avoiding any work. And then, school came back and my body just went AGH and didn't want to work past 6pm. That, plus a crazy new obsession with YouTube videos, the BBC show Merlin, and just general procrastinating, leads us to now. I am really sorry, but I can say that I will try and get back in the swing now I'm back at school and used to it all.**

**Thanks for your lovely reviews, favourites and alerts! They're much appreciated :D**

** Disclaimer: Let's be honest, if I owned Sonny with a Chance, I wouldn't be stuck in the middle of nowhere in snowy, cold England, would I? Meh.**

* * *

**Lost Soul**

**Chapter 7 - Belonging**

The mall was, surprisingly and fortunately, not burnt to the ground when we arrived. I gave Chad a very patronising smile.

"So you managed to keep your temper earlier?" I cooed, shoving his arm playfully, "Good job!"

Chad scowled at me jokingly, "Shut up."

"I'm still not comfortable ditching school like this." I reminded him, serious now. He scoffed.

"Relax! Who's going to notice?"

"Um… My fellow ditchers?" I pointed out, "_'Fellow'_ 'cos I am now one of them. And they'll go crazy when they see me here – I'm too goody-goody to skip school!"

"Well too bad!" Chad waved his hand around, "This is a, uh, an important mission! A girl's life depends on it, remember?"

"We're only here to get you some clothes." I reminded him, "It's not life or death."

"Yes, but you're so _insistent_ on getting me new clothes that something tells me we won't get any life-or-death stuff done before I get some." His sarcasm was a refreshing change from the panic and the worry and the anger. Maybe here, at the mall with a friend, he could just behave like a normal guy. Well, for a few hours, anyway. He added an eye-roll to his sarcastic comment, just for emphasis. I stuck my tongue out at him, glad to play along. "Naughty." He scolded, mocking me. Giggling, I let him clutch my hand and drag me through the mall.

* * *

It was only when I was finally relaxed and doing normal things around Chad that I felt that I was truly having fun. Pressures were lifted. Worries were gone.

And Chad was truly being Chad.

Now, I don't mean the Chad I'd been experiencing before wasn't real (though he was different to any person I'd ever met and, being a fictional character, shouldn't have been real), but something just… shifted in him.

There was something still, well, Chad-like in him in the respect that he was a little too gallant and old-fashioned when it came to women. In fact, at one point, he almost had a scrap with some creepy guy with too many tattoos who bumped into me and didn't apologise. Chad grabbed the guy by the arm and told him to apologise; that no-one honourable should be that disrespectful to a lady. The guy clearly wasn't impressed – quite amused, actually – but Chad, being the chivalry-driven guy he is, stayed perfectly sombre. I didn't know whether to be flattered from his care for me or uncomfortable from the little crowd that gathered when the two of them began their Mexican stare-down. I, of course, being the socially-awkward little thing I am, dragged Chad away before a throw-down could begin. Sure, that meant the mocking began from the big buff guy and his friends, and Chad's pride was dented, but at least he didn't end up severely smashing that guy's face. Regardless of how strong he was, Chad was stronger. I'd seen it.

I'd experienced it.

This guy wouldn't have had a chance.

And it wasn't just me Chad was working his charm on. Any time we left a shop with a young, female work assistant he'd give her the smile and his eyes would sparkle and she would giggle and wave him goodbye. I suppressed any feelings of jealousy and envy because I knew Chad wasn't mine anyway. I wasn't really allowed to have those feelings – I had no excuse.

But he _was_ behaving different, like I said. He was behaving like a normal person should (save that moment with the tattoo guy). He was laughing, having fun. It felt like I was having a day out with a friend – I wasn't on some crazy, unrealistic and impossible mission with a fictional character. It felt like I'd known - physically known - Chad for so much longer than I really had.

It was special in a way that I couldn't possibly explain. I guess that's why I could suppress any envious feelings that popped up – because Chad felt like a _friend. _A friend I had a slight crush on, albeit, but a friend nonetheless.

We rested at a seating area just outside the _Subway _in the mall. He dragged my plastic chair out a little and grinned and I tried not to blush and took the seat. He headed for the other seat opposite mine on the little circular table and seated himself, shooting a bright smile in my direction.

I let out a huff I didn't realise I'd been holding in my lungs. I was still clutching on to a couple of bags from various shops, my fingers aching from their uncomfortable arched position around the bag handles. Chad was holding a few more bags than I was – he'd almost insisted he would hold them all, but I wouldn't allow it.

Chad dumped the bags by his feet, before beckoning me to pass him the bags caught in my grasp. Slowly opening up my cramped fingers (having foolishly placed them in an unbelievably awkward position for a couple of hours), I let the bags hover near Chad's hands and they slipped off of my fingers and onto his own, where he simply let them slide down next to the other ones he'd been carrying. He then locked his fingers into mine for just a second as he smiled sweetly at me, before letting go and letting his eyes gaze around at his surroundings.

I followed his eyes around as he studied the escalators, the shops, and the floods and floods of people streaming in and out of every shop, chatting with their friends or charging ahead, clearly in a rush, their eyes straight ahead and serious.

"You intrigued, book boy?" I joked as his eyes narrowed with curiosity. They suddenly darted back to me and he pulled a disgusted face.

"Don't call me that." He insisted. I raised my arms in surrender and he went back to his studies.

"So, you having fun?" I asked him after a few seconds of silence. He let his eyes flash back to me, but this time he was smiling.

"It's funny." He said, sighing a little. "I never went to anywhere like this with Monica. I mean, we have them in our world – I think so, anyway – but I never went to one."

"Were you scared of trying something new?"

"Pfft." Chad smirked, "I don't _get _scared."

"Really? I thought everyone got scared…"

"Sonny." His eyes narrowed at me and he smirked, "Will you shut up?"

I snorted, "Gentlemanly."

Chad chuckled, "Well, can I prove my gentlemanly-ness by going to buy you a drink or something?"

As if his very words had summoned it, my throat suddenly felt dry. I realised I hadn't drank anything for hours.

"Coffee?" I suggested, pointing to the little coffee shop opposite us.

"What kind?" He asked. I just shrugged.

"You choose." I decided, before adding hurriedly, "Just make sure it has little marshmallows!"

Chad grinned as he rose from his seat, "As you command," he declared, before bowing and adding, "My lady."

I laughed as I watched him stroll away, his eyes still wandering around the mall and landing on anything that mildly fascinated him. His mind, however, was set on the task ahead, and not once did he stray from the path to the coffee shop.

"Well, well, _well!"_

I was so distracted by watching Chad, I hadn't noticed three girls approach me from behind. I swivelled around in my chair to see the three familiar girls towering over me and my insides churned.

"If it isn't Sonny Munroe." The middle girl declared, flicking her locks behind her like she was in some kind of hair product commercial. I let the scowl sink onto my face. I couldn't help it.

"If it isn't _Gemma." _I replied in the same sugary-sickly tone I used whenever I came face to face with her. Scarlett, her tomato-red-haired friend, was to her right, and Jessie, a brunette girl with more make-up than sense, was to her left. Both of them were imitating the arms-folded, smirk-driven pose of their all-powerful mistress (because neither had sense without Gemma), and I couldn't help but glare at them both individually before turning my stare back to Gemma. She seemed amused, the smirk on her face there from clear delight, and I shuffled around in my seat, uncomfortable. However I tried to keep a straight back and sit strong. I wasn't going to let her get to me. Not today. Especially with Chad only a few metres away. A small part of me though wished he was here to help, before I realised that I'd been coping with Gemma for years and I didn't need Chad to help (regardless of the fact that I usually lost to Gemma, but whatever).

"So…" She circled my table, before plopping down on the seat Chad had been sat on, her lackies either side of her.

"Where's your other minion, Gemma?" I asked, referring to the other girl that was usually part of the Frustrating Foursome, Louise. "She dumped you?"

Gemma chuckled, "I don't _get _dumped." She declared, "By friends or otherwise. _I _do the dumping."

"You must be so proud." I murmured. Gemma ignored me.

"But if you must know, Louise is over by the Coffee Hut." Gemma explained, pointing in the same direction that Chad had gone to a few seconds ago. I looked over and gasped as I saw he was standing right behind Louise. _If only he knew who she was… _I thought to myself.

"But that's off-subject," Gemma declared, as if whatever she wanted to talk about was law. "Let's talk about your absence from school today."

My shoulders tensed. "Wh-what about it?" I asked, trying to keep a straight poker face. Gemma giggled.

"We were told you went home _sick." _She said, her chin high. Her eyes twinkled with satisfaction as I, nervous, shuffled in my seat. Swallowing, I sat upright, sticking with my don't-care act.

"You can hardly talk." I huffed, "I'm sure you've been away from school more often than you've been _there_. And unless you've got some creepy disease, I doubt you're off for a reasonable excuse."

Gemma rolled her eyes. "Hypocrite." She murmured.

My eyes narrowed and my teeth clenched together in frustration.

"Takes one to know one." I retorted with a shrug, earning a glare and what sounded like a growl. Wow. Attractive.

"Whatever." Gemma flicked her hair back again, placing her hands on her hips and bending down like she was scolding me. "I don't need a lecture from some goody two-shoes who claims to be a sweetheart, but who's really a lying, pathetic weirdo who has no friends."

"I wasn't lecturing you." I replied, but the power in my voice had now gone.

"Sure, sure. Why don't I just tell the school about your little ditch day?" She squeaked, the picture of evil on her perfect little face as she turned to her friends who nodded excitedly, like two little lapdogs obeying her every word. Friendships like that made me sick.

"I'm sure Principal Matthews would _love_ to hear this story. And she could tell your mother…"

"You wouldn't dare." I scowled, my breathing a little too harsh for my liking.

"Try me." Gemma folded her arms again, proud she was getting the upper hand. My eyes, in pain from glaring into her green ones for a while, darted over to try and find the blue ones I so desperately wished for. _Come on, Chad, where are you?_ I kept thinking. Though I didn't want Chad fighting my battles – he had bigger fish to fry – I hoped that his presence would at least scare the girls off.

"Who are you looking for?" Gemma's voice was sharp. "Your little boyfriend?"

I looked straight back at her, awestruck. She was satisfied.

"H-he's not my boyfriend." I mumbled, any evidence of my previous confidence vanished.

"No? Just a friend?" She suggested. I just nodded, shoulders hunched. She grinned. "Yeah... You know, I'm sure that won't last."

"Excuse me?"

"He'll realise soon. Just like the rest of us did. You're _pathetic_." And then the giggling chorus of her lackies made my ears ache. I wasn't offended anymore. I was tired. So much so that I wanted her gone.

And as I glared at her pink, smug cheek, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

My hand was already balled into a fist, so it was easy enough for me to just swing said fist straight into said pink, smug cheek.

She gasped, and with her a few surrounding members of the public did. Including her lapdogs. Most of the shoppers ignored us, though a small handful watched for a second before turning back to what they were doing.

Gemma's pink cheek was now red. I don't think it was from where I'd hit her, though. I hadn't hit her that hard.

The red was her fury.

"Why you…" She was almost flailing around in her anger. It was almost comical. "You sick, geeky, ugly, good-for-nothing _freak_! Why don't you just go- go crawl in a hole and _die!?"_

"Because I'm not gonna sink so low just because you tell me too." I replied. "I'm _done_, Gemma."

She recomposed her face, her few seconds of fury over, though she was still shaking a little.

"You're a freak." She snapped.

"Hey!"

My head swirled around to the sound of the voice by my side and I grinned with glee.

"Chad!"

But his focus was on Gemma. He was clutching two cups of coffee, and scowling ferociously at her, like an impatient predator.

This time, Gemma was the prey.

"Takes one to know one." Chad told his prey, smiling mockingly, before holding up one of the cups over her head and tipping it. The contents – including the little marshmallows I'd asked for – toppled out of the cup, almost in slow motion, and splattered all over Gemma, earning a high-pitched shriek from her. Stifling giggles, I high-fived Chad, who grinned and passed me the remaining cup.

"You can have mine." He said with a grin. We passed Gemma, who was frozen and the picture of pity – with her make-up streaming and her clothes ruined – before Chad stopped, turned around, and picked something out of her soaking hair.

"I almost forgot." He smiled, opening his hand out to show me, "Your little marshmallows."

Chuckling, I took the marshmallows and threw them in the air, catching them in my mouth. Chad grabbed all the bags in both his hands, giving Gemma a friendly smile, to which she scowled menacingly, and we continued walking, leaving Gemma and her fumbling friends in our dust.

* * *

"What do you think you were _doing?"_

Chad wasn't joking once we got out of Gemma's sight though. Now that we were a quite far from them, he was giving me a semi-stern look, arms folded. I smiled up at him like a little five year-old caught in the act. It clearly wasn't working though 'cos he didn't give in.

"You punched that girl? And _who_ was telling _me _not to mess things up and destroy the mall?"

I found myself giggling, "You think that little punch would've turned into a full-fledged destruction of the mall?"

Chad smirked, "Knowing your crazy level strength, power, and just general insanity – most likely."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Don't judge me." I told him, "You saw how evil she was."

"Hmm." Chad agreed with a nod. "I suppose so. But if I'm not allowed to cause any drama, you aren't either." He looked down at me with a condescending, yet adorable smile, "Deal?"

I sighed, not wanting to argue, "Deal." I agreed begrudgingly, elbowing him lightly.

He grinned, "Great." He let his eyes wonder around the mall for a few seconds, before he suggested, "We should probably go." He then added a cheeky wink, "I mean, we've caused enough damage around here."

I snorted, his wink making me blush. I just hoped he hadn't seen it and shot him a smile in return.

"I'm right behind you." I told him.

* * *

I felt more comfortable upon driving into the parking lot of my safe little apartment block. I gazed up a little, seeing the window to my room and smiling. I just wanted to get back inside, after a busy and exhausting day, and sleep. I suspected Chad would stay up all night, trying to work out a plan, but I didn't mind. It meant he'd probably just sleep all day tomorrow, which was good; I didn't want to get dragged out of school at risk of someone seeing me out again. No doubt that Gemma was going to spread word around that school of my little ditch day – I didn't want a repeat. I was sure I could come up with a silly little explanation as to why I was at the mall, during school time, and supposedly ill.

Chad stepped out of my car, grabbing the bags from the backseat and nodding for me to lead the way in. I hoped that Mom wouldn't mind Chad staying over again. Or, at least, wouldn't notice; though that option was the least likely. If an excuse for his presence was required, I'd probably just shrug and say that his parents were in another fight and he couldn't face it.

My excuse just made Mom sigh. "He'll need to face it _sometime_." She decided, speaking in a low voice so that, in my room, Chad couldn't hear, "He can't just hide here – his parents will start to wonder where he is!"

I sighed, realising I was fighting a lost battle and decided to change my tune, "Well, he's trying to save up enough money so he can move out." I told her, "He just needs to get a job."

Her eyebrows furrowed together, "So, while he's waiting for this job, we're supposed to keep him here like some sort of fugitive from his _own_ parents?" She sighed, relaxing her voice a little and speaking in a gentler register. "Look, Sonny, I'm all for being hospitable to this boy, but we can't keep him here forever. We can barely feed the both of us-"

"He can pay for his food!" I interjected. "He can pay for anything!"

"I thought you said he doesn't have money for an apartment. Now he has money for food?"

My lie was weakening. I gulped. "Or… or I'll pay for it, if that's okay…"

Mom sighed. "He needs a job, Allison. A job and a home of his own. Or he needs to go back to his _own _home. I'm willing to take him in for a week, but after that, he needs to live his own life. Okay?"

Giving in, I huffed. "Sure, Mom. I'll help him find a job."

* * *

Chad was in my room. I walked in after my discussion with Mom to find him watching out the window. He was clearly up to something. If he was a dog, his ears would be pricked up with curiosity.

"What are you doing?" I asked him. Not turning his head, he responded quickly.

"Just on watch." He declared. I rolled my eyes.

"Watching _what?_ No-one's gonna be watching us."

"You'd be surprised." He said, turning to me only for the briefest second. "They're…" he shuddered, "they're _everywhere._"

"_S.O.U.L_?" I asked. He nodded, still watching the street below. Huffing and muttering under my breath, I approached his side, slumping down next to him on the end of my bed. "Sounds like you're some sort of celebrity hiding from obsessed fans." I chuckled evenly. Chad didn't lighten up.

"Sonny, this isn't funny!"

"I'm just saying; you're being a little – I dunno – paranoid?"

"Why don't you try being _hunted _like an animal for years on end by your own _family_ and then tell me I shouldn't be paranoid." He snapped bitterly. I swallowed, raising my arms in surrender.

"Okay, okay!" I moaned. He turned to look at me, his face set into a frown. I gulped, lowering my arms into my lap and hunching my shoulders. "I'm sorry." I whispered, "You're right. I _don't _get it. I've read the books, but I haven't lived it myself."

"Do you know what it's like?" He asked me, his rage still a little evident in his voice, "To- to be hated? Looked down on like – like something that doesn't belong? That shouldn't exist?" He looked at me, for a long, long moment. "To be treated like a _creep?"_

I lowered my head, unable to meet his eyes anymore. "Yes." I whispered. He was silent, and I carried on. "You saw the girls today. They treat me like a freak. I supposed not in the same way you're treated; but they mock me and laugh at me and like getting me into trouble and seeing me suffer."

I risked a glance back up at Chad, and, surprisingly, all the anger and fury on his face had dissolved into a look of pity – no – _understanding. _We were more alike than either of us realised. Regardless of strength or age or even _world_ we were from – we were both the victims who were hunted and/or hated because we were different. In the eyes of our tormenters we were freaks, and that was what connected us. I could see in his eyes that Chad hadn't met someone he connected to as much in that respect. Monica was a quiet, unpopular girl like me, but she'd never been targeted like I had.

Like _Chad _had.

As if he could hear my thoughts, Chad nodded and smiled a careful smile.

"Thank you, Sonny."

"For what?"

He inhaled, and then exhaled, his words tumbling out with the air, "For making me feel welcome." He confessed, "For inviting me into your home. For helping me." He shuffled closer to me, taking the hand that was on my lap and embracing it in both of his. They were warm and inviting.

"I'm grateful for you." He said softly, "You're one of the only two people in the world – in _both _worlds – who is still alive and who cares about me." His smile was growing with every word, and, in response, so was mine.

"And I promise you, Chad; I am going to help you find the second person."

He pulled a face, "I dunno if I want you fighting _S.O.U.L_., Sonny."

"Hey! I'm much tougher than I look!" I declared, sticking my tongue out childishly. Chad laughed. "And besides, I wasn't volunteering to fight anyone. But I _am _gonna help you find Monica."

Without warning, I threw myself into his chest and clutched him in a tight hug. "I _will _help you. I promise."

No longer distracted with his lookout, Chad hugged me back.

"I know you will."

"Sonny!" My Mom's voice called from the other room, "Chad! I got you two some pizza!"

I smiled up at Chad, "Coming!" I yelled back to Mom, dragging the boy with me out of his room.

His lookout was cut short.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry again for the delay. Not only have I been lazy and/or busy but I've also been unsure of what exactly to do. But it's done now and I hope to get you another update as soon as possible :) **

**See you guys soon! Don't forget to review :)**

**~Amy x**


	8. Plans

**A/N: Grr. These bi-monthly updates are becoming an ugly habit. I apologise, guys, but GCSEs are getting closer. But I'm working on stories whenever I can, and trust me, I had a massive burst of inspiration tonight and so updates (for this story, at least) should become more frequent.**

**kaitlyn99 - Thanks for your review! Yes, 'The Vampire Stalker' is a pretty good book. I wish it has been longer - it was only 200-odd pages :( But it's worth a read if you enjoy this story :)**

**CDCTheRandomWizard23 - Aw, I couldn't forget this story! I love it too much :D**

**hope for eternity - Oh, you'll see soon enough. Sonny and Chad are gonna have to spend an awful lot of time together :P**

**I don't own Sonny with A Chance.**

* * *

**Chapter 8 - Plans**

Upon waking, Chad was ready to get started with his researching, and similarly, though I didn't want to end up getting into too much trouble, I was vying to aid him in any way possible.

After having tried to convince Chad that sleep was best for him, just for this night, but being rejected rather harshly, I was baffled, and pretty humoured, to see him lying fast asleep on my couch the next morning. But after I woke him up with a careful shove, he shot up, shook off any accusations I giggled out, and got back to work.

His plan was simple enough. He wanted to locate _S.O.U.L _men, and follow them. He had a feeling that, if I was correct and Monica was still alive, that meant that they would have to be delivering their hostage food to keep her alive. He decided that they were probably keeping her as bait for him, and so he needed to find where they were keeping her and get her out without any of the men noticing, so he wouldn't have any trouble in getting her out.

"It's that simple?" I asked incredulously.

"I only wish." Chad scoffed, "We have to locate _them _first. We were lucky to see them that first night – they're not easy to spot."

"Hermits." I chuckled. Chad rolled his eyes.

"Nope. Just good at keeping themselves as inconspicuous as possible."

"Which is pretty good, considering they're all dressed like they're from a certain British spy movie."

Chad just stared at me like I was mad. I gaped at him.

"They don't have _James Bond _in your world?!"

"Believe it or not." Chad mumbled dryly.

"Oh, I have _so _much to teach you!" I told him, patting his shoulder as he stared studiously into the _Lost Soul _book, trying to research any _S.O.U.L. _tactics he could find later on in the book. He'd read six or seven chapters further ahead than the point I was at, and I had demanded he not tell me any details of the book later on unless it was absolutely necessary, because of spoilers. The setting of this rule followed an unfortunate incident where Chad had yelled out in outrage at chapter 21 where he had confessed his love for Monica to one of her friends and how thousands of people would've read his confession and none of them were Monica. I had replied with a huffy "none of them are me either," and then instructed Chad to keep details like that to a minimum. Chad didn't really see the big deal, but I didn't dare to hold him up any longer by explaining it to him.

"I'm sure you do." Chad mumbled indifferently, "But right now we're busy."

"But after we've found Monica, I could take you two around and show you some sights, give you a glimpse of our world. You know, if you want."

Chad was hesitant. He thought for a few seconds, before he cautiously spoke. "It wouldn't be safe for us to stay here. As soon as I find Monica-,"

"_We _find Monica…"

"-I'm taking her home. She's not safe here."

I scoffed, "Chad, she's not a baby deer. I'm sure she can protect herself." I remembered with a satisfied grin of one point in the story where Monica had stuck up for herself against the school bullies, and wished my standing-up-for-myself attempts were as successful as hers. Mine always ended up in me getting in trouble and the bullies getting out unscathed. Although, I thought with a smile, yesterday's attempt hadn't been futile at all. I wondered if it was thanks to Chad that everything had gone so smoothly yesterday that I'd only got out of that fight with a mild dent in my pride – I'd had way worse before.

"Doesn't change anything." Chad says, relentless. "I'll take her back to our world, and she'll be safe."

"What, in the same world as all the bad guys?"

Chad huffed angrily, standing up from his seat so that he was towering over me, "Damn it, Sonny, have you forgotten something?"

"What?" I stood too.

"The 'bad guys'-," He mocked me, "-are _here. _In your world. The sooner Monica and I get back into our world, the sooner they'll follow us back, and the sooner _your world _will be safe. The sooner _you _will be safe!"

He exhaled, tearing his eyes from me and sitting back down. "It's just… better this way. For all of us. Once _I've_-," I didn't interrupt this time, "-found Monica, I'll find a way back to our world, and then this'll all be over. Okay?"

Slumping back into the seat beside him, I rested my head in my hands, conscious of the ache in my chest and berating myself for it. Chad was right – maybe it was better that way. The more time I spent with Chad, the worse it would get, right? The harder it would be when the time came to say goodbye. So I decided that, if Chad was able to come at this with a detached and stoic approach, then I would be too.

I hoped.

* * *

School dragged. Significantly.

I decided it'd probably be best if I tried to be as useful in Chad's search for the _S.O.U.L. _men as possible – though I knew my help was most unwelcome, I thought that giving myself a job to occupy myself with in the breaks and free periods I had today would certainly take my mind away from the boy himself.

So I spent those breaks and free periods in the library. I got history books on California and read up about any possible hiding spots there could be across the state, noting them all down for Chad to inspect later tonight. There were tales of magical caves in the forest and cities buried underneath the modern Los Angeles that sounded more mythical than historical.

But they were fascinating, even if they were (to my knowledge) inaccurate. In fact, the librarian pretty much had to kick me out by the time lunch was over, because I was so overly indulged in the stories. I took out a couple of the books, hoping that some evidence (as fictional as it may've sounded) would help sway Chad to my side, help him decide what the best approach would be to our situation.

I also tried to think, myself, about where Chad's uncle would've hidden a fugitive. I tried to think like a villain; sadistically, thoughtlessly. I'd read enough books and seen enough films to know of the way villains thought, felt. Most things that sprung into my mind were lonely; caves or dark rooms with scratchy ropes almost cutting the circulation to her wrists because of their tightness. The image of Monica – tired, tied to the floor, sorrowful and scared – gave me a sense of determination to help her. I'd never met her before, but I'd read so much of her story that I felt like we were best friends – I had done so even before I'd found out she was a real girl. I knew I couldn't let her suffer, and that was what I focused on all through the day. The fuel for my fire was the growing knowledge I acquired in the library, and the more time I spent thinking about where Monica could be right now and how much danger she could be in, the larger than fire grew – the larger my determination to save her became.

Because she wasn't dead. That's what I kept telling myself – she may have (in my imagination) had bruises and scrapes beyond belief. She may be straving, malnourished. She may have been tortured on more than one occasion out of sadistic glee. But I could… I could _feel_ her life, like it was bubbling away inside me. I remembered the dream I'd had and denied profoundly that it had just been my own imagination, because it had just felt so real. Above the burning desire to impress Chad and the even stronger desire to prove to him that I _could _be of use, I knew that I couldn't let an innocent girl be hurt like this anymore. It was just like my confrontation with Gemma yesterday.

I needed to fight back.

There's only one problem with fighting back, though. If it goes your way, well, then great. But if it doesn't…

I guess I expected my problems with Gemma to be over with straight after the quarrel at the mall. Or maybe I just didn't think about it. So it was pretty stupid for me to be so shocked when she approached me at the lockers – surprisingly, without her squad.

"Whaddup, Sonny?" She asked casually, a glint of excitement in her eyes.

"Nothing." I matched her casual tone, not wanting to sound weak or pathetic. I thought about Monica, about Chad, and about _S.O.U.L._, and I kept my head high as I rooted through my locker.

"Missing your boyfriend?" She cooed mockingly.

I shut my locker, facing her, "You done?" I asked, before turning on my heels and walking off. The clicking of obnoxious heels followed my every move.

"He's too hot for you, you know." She was persistent, I'll give her that. But of course, she didn't realise that my relationship with Chad, well, it was platonic, at best. It wasn't even that, really – probably more of colleagues than friends. Like a spy mission. That's probably all Chad would agree to, if that. I wasn't letting myself get too emotionally involved – I'd already promised myself that. So what if Chad was a fictional character I'd fawned over for months? Not only did he already like someone else, he'd also be going home soon – to a different _world_. After that, I would just go back to fawning over his picture on the book cover and squealing along with fellow fans.

Yep. No emotions. Well, apart from the admiration I'd had for him while reading along with the story, and the deep-seated love I didn't dare to admit, to him or to anyone else; simply because it wasn't _real _love – just part of that unconditional adoration that comes with being a fan of something or some_body. _

Not that Gemma could know all this. If I told her that the boy was just from a book, she'd think I was even more insane than she already did. So I avoided explaining my innate and complicated feelings to my enemy and just kept on my stoic Chad-face.

"How long is it gonna take you to realise you're not bothering me?"

Gemma just raised her eyebrow and smirked. "_Sure." _

I sighed, her presence like that of an irritating fly buzzing around my ears. There wasn't really a way I could get rid of insects if they just kept coming back (unless I killed them or something, but that really wasn't high on my list of _'Ways to Get Rid of Gemma_'), so tuning to and ignoring her was my best option. I wondered, only for a moment, if that was Chad's plan with me – ignore her, and she'll go away.

It wasn't really working for Chad, but it was worth a shot with Gemma.

"I wonder if he knows he's too hot for you."

I just laughed. Her attempt was pathetic. "Gemma, thanks for your company, but I have class to get to."

I left her, but she was relentless. She yelled after me, "He's got that look of a guy who's in love. Doubt it's with you, though. Get ready to crash and burn, Sonny."

I bit my lip, unwilling to turn back, unwilling to ask how she knew that Chad already had somebody, unwilling to confront her on how little I cared.

Problems don't just vanish into thin air all the time, after you've confronted them. They come back to bite you, sometimes. But now that I was able to bite back, I couldn't have cared less.

* * *

"Chad? Chad, I'm home!"

I found my little lodger in the kitchen, chewing on a granola bar while his eyes stayed fixed on the screen of a computer. He looked half asleep – there were black bags under his eyes – but there was a determination in his irises which stopped me from questioning his sleeping pattern and insisting he went to bed.

"How was your day?" I asked him. "Productive?"

Chad just growled. "Wasted an entire day." He muttered dryly, "Got nothing."

"Oh." I smiled, my ego and confidence at my own, more successful research, inflating. "Well, then, you'd better be grateful, 'cos your good friend Sonny's found bucket loads!"

Chad tore his eyes from the screen tiredly and raised an eyebrow at me. "And we will find use in the buckets… how?"

I just grinned, "You're too cute." I said, dropping the bag of books I'd borrowed unceremoniously onto the counter about two or three feet from him.

"What's that?" He asked, "Looks more like books than buckets."

I stared at him in amusement, "They _are _books, Chad. You should know – you come from one; you're the fictional character."

"Hey, how do we know _you're _not the fictional one?" Chad retorted. His usual defensiveness and anger at being labelled as unreal seemed to have evaporated for now and he seemed to be returning my banter. I smiled.

"Because _you're _the one with a mortal enemy."

"Have you _forgotten _about that girl yesterday?" Chad smirked, "She seemed like arch-enemy material."

I thought back to the locker incident, "Believe me – there is no _way _I've forgotten Gemma. And besides, you're the one who has unbelievable comic-book strength and actual evidence of a real _book _that proves your case moot."

Chad reached for one of the books in the bag and pulled it out, studying the front cover. He then, shrugging, flicked to the first page to check out the contents.

"So what did you find in this book that'll help?"

"It's all about the history of California – well, _my_ California. It's kind of the more obscure stories that no-one really knows of – legends, myths, probably. But they might have some kind of truth in them. They might help us find where Monica is hidden. You know his mind – maybe the stuff in here could help."

Chad was slightly sceptical. He pulled a face, flicking aimlessly through the book, before dropping it down on the table and reaching for another book. "I'll have a look." He simply said.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "No_ 'thank you, Sonny'_?"

Chad laughed, "I think I've thanked you enough in the last few days, don't you?"

I shrugged, "You can never be too thankful."

"Maybe you're right." Chad said, but his nose was already too far into the next book. He flipped through the book without direction, before reaching one page and stopping on it. "Huh." He muttered.

"Huh what?" I said after he failed to expand.

He put the book down on the kitchen counter, open on one of the pages. It was one of the more colourful – so probably one of the more mythical – books, with so many pictures that it seemed more like a children's book than a teen's. Maybe it was the publisher's weak attempt at trying to get kids my age into history. I thought about half the kids in my school, who would sometimes use History lessons as an excuse to either snooze or texts their friends, and doubted that it was working.

"Just this layout." He explained, pointing to the large picture in the centre of the page. It looked like some kind of medieval setting for a castle, which confused me, because I wasn't even sure if buildings like that existed in America around that time.

The story on the page was about some kind of city that sounded like it was out of a fairytale, which, hundreds of years ago, was destroyed by an incredible tsunami and buried underneath its own rubble. The city was, years later, replaced with other settlements when people began settling in California. The state grew with the people, and no-one had really dug under the busy cities to see if the myth was true. The evidence was possibly forged, but as there was nothing to prove this, there was nothing to disprove the story. Chad seemed so enthralled by this story, though, and I started to wonder if maybe my research was really much more useful than I had previously expected.

"What about it?"

"It just looks… familiar." Chad mused, "Maybe a little less modern and a lacking in technology, but it's pretty familiar."

"What does it remind you of?"

Chad sighed for a moment, "Just somewhere I used to live." He snorted, before continuing quietly "If you could call it _living._"

"What do you mean?" I asked carefully, placing a hand on his shoulder. He turned and opened his mouth as if to speak, but I heard the front door open and my Mom call to say hi, and I gave Chad an apologetic frown before walking out of the kitchen to see my mother. She gave me a large smile as I came into her view, and reached towards her purse.

"Honey, I've found the perfect solution to Chad's problem." She beamed, pulling a piece of paper out from the purse and pushing it into my hands. I opened the folded sheet, scanning it. I gulped a little as I noted that it was an ad for an apartment.

"It's a great opportunity for him!" My mom was saying, "He's old enough to have his own place, even if it's just for a bit. The previous owners are renting just for a while, because they're go out to Spain for a couple of months to decide whether to permanently move there or not. Chad could stay there if he can find the money, maybe get a job, and then when the owners come back he can either find a different place, stay there, or go back to his parents if they sort things out!" She grinned proudly, now looking for my approval, "What do you think, honey?"

My mouth dropped open a little, and I tried to build the guts to shoot down my Mom's idea like a plastic duck. I checked the address and knew the street – it was miles away. I couldn't help him that far away, and would he even survive in this world without me?

I ignored how bigheaded that comment sounded and went to reject my mother's idea, but then I saw her soft, happy face, realised that she thought she was doing a good deed and sighed. "Yeah, Mom. Sounds great." I said, a little dryly.

Mom smiled. "Good. I just wanted to run it past you before I showed Chad." She took back the leaflet, before giving me a knowing smile. She leaned in a little closer, "I know you like this boy," I didn't argue there, because it was futile and _I _knew it was untrue. Well, mostly. "But you've gotta let him get on with his life. This will be good for him."

I watched my mom totter into the kitchen to show Chad the leaflet and I huffed, following at her heels, the thought of how awful this idea really was lingering in my head.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks again for reading. I'll see you guys next time :D**

**Don't forget to review!**

**~Amy x**


	9. The Lead

**A/N: Well, what do ya know? A decent-timed update! You're very welcome :P And, to any QTO readers, I apologise. I'm finding it difficult to plan the next chapter, but I'm going to try and start posting updates about my updates (whoa) on my profile (if I remember), so when I do start writing it, you guys'll be the first to know so long as you check my profile :)**

**Someone asked me last chapter if I was going to write Chad's POV. It wasn't my plan to - my plan was to keep the story fully Sonny. However, if you want me to, I can write a one-shot about any part of the story you want from Chad's point of view, or at least give it a go!.**

**I don't own Sonny with a Chance**

* * *

**Lost Soul **

**Chapter 9 - The Lead**

"Chad? I have something to show you."

Chad shot up from his seat on one of the kitchen stools, slamming the book he was reading and wearing a lost-puppy-caught-in-the-act look that made me giggle. I'd stopped Mom from showing Chad the leaflet the night before, and then warned Chad about my Mom's plan to get him back to his 'parents' house, or in a house of his own. As a result, he'd been pretty cautious this morning around my mother, and he clearly still was now. He nodded respectfully towards her.

"Ms Munroe." He said monotonously, before glancing over her shoulder at me for help. I gave him an encouraging nod that told him to _just go with it. _He looked back at Mom, more confident this time. "You need to show me something?"

"Yes," Mom said, smiling kindly at him. "Sonny and I were thinking about what would be best for you," I silently groaned at the fact Mom had brought me into this decision, "and we think that, perhaps, what's best for you isn't living here."

Chad nodded, my encouraging gesture clearly stuck in his mind.

"I agree... ma'am." He said. My Mom chuckled, clearly amused by the use of such a respectful title.

"Just call me Connie." She insisted. Chad nodded again, his face the picture of obedience. I didn't understand why he was looking at my mother like she was some kind of sergeant, but it was pretty funny, if anything.

"Connie." He confirmed, and Mom's smile grew. She passed him the paper, and he unfolded and studied it carefully. He looked up, with wide eyes, at me, and I gave him a thumbs up.

"What do you think?" Mom was saying, "It'll be good for you to move out of your parents' house. That is, unless you want to go home. But if not, Sonny and I can help you get a job, and you can pay for it with the money you get there. Maybe if you ask your parents, they can support you; maybe send you some money to get yourself going. I'm sure Sonny will be around to keep you sane, too." She chuckled, before smiling, waiting for Chad's reply. He seemed kind of overwhelmed by the sudden burst of information from my Mom. Looking over her shoulder again for my confirmation, he gave my Mom an unsure thumbs up, probably copying me. His eyes darted back to me for a second, and, because I was smiling encouragingly, he smiled too, if a little too widely. I held back a giggle, or maybe a face-palm.

Mom raised an eyebrow at Chad, before smiling kindly at him, and then turning and leaving the room.

"Nicely done, Chad." I muttered, "Way to freak out my mother."

"You really think it'd be a good idea for me to go live in a different home?" Chad asked, wonder and a little bit of offence decorating his tone.

"Heck, no." I shook my head, "But I couldn't disagree or my Mom would be suspicious."

"Oh." Chad said. "So, what are we supposed to do now your Mom thinks I'm going to go live somewhere else?"

"I'll think of that later." I promised. "Right now, we need to find some way to find Monica. You should focus your efforts on that – I'll figure out your cover story later."

"Sonn_aaaay!"_

"Crud." I mumbled, "It's Tawni."

Chad's brow creased at the familiar name, "Your friend?"

"Yeah." I said as I heard the clicking of Tawni's heels, her voice chattering with my Mom, before her footfalls changed direction towards the kitchen. "Crap. Okay, uh… _what_ are you doing?"

Chad was on his hands and knees, and he glance up at me disbelievingly, like it was obvious. "I'm hiding. Duh."

"Why?" I hissed.

"Don't you think it'd be kind of weird for a guy you met in the forest the other day to be at your apartment for no explainable reason?"

"Good point," I shrugged as he crawled underneath the breakfast table. "Wow." I stifled a laugh as he tugged the chairs further in so that he was better disguised. "No one can see you down there." I mocked sarcastically, "Well done, Chad – bravo!"

"Sonny?" The door swung open and Tawni was smirking at me, "Are you talking to yourself again?" She asked sweetly. I shrugged.

"A little."

Tawni chuckled, "You're insane, Son. What's going on this time?"

"I just did something stupid and was applauding myself for it." I explained, smiling too sweetly. Tawni raised an eyebrow at me, her expression incredulous.

"Right." She then glance over at the breakfast table and pointed to the pile of books. "Studying?"

"Something like that." I agreed. She picked up a book and leafed through it. After a few seconds, she dropped the book unceremoniously back on the table.

"_Bor_-ing." She moaned, "It's all fake, anyway. Mythical cities? Hidden caves? I'm not buying it."

"It's pretty interesting, though."

Tawni snorted, "Right. Wanna go to the mall?"

"Um…" I supposed that I could do with some time away from all the madness Chad had brought about. Plus, me leaving would give Chad a chance to figure everything out. "Yeah. Yeah, sure."

Tawni grinned. "Awesome. Grab anything you need and…"

She trailed off as movement in the corner of her eyeshot. Her blue eyes then widened in horror and I ran over to cover her mouth before she screamed.

"Shh!" I whispered comfortingly, "Shush, Tawni, it's okay. He's not some crazy guy – he's a guest."

"A _guest?" _She squeaked hysterically, "So why the hell's he _hiding?" _

Chad climbed out from under his hiding place - like I'd assumed, not a very successful one - and I stood beside him. "Well, we didn't know how you'd react."

"So you thought I'd react better to some random guy hiding under your table? Ever heard of introductions?"

Chad was by her side in a second. He held one of her hands up to his face and kissed it softly. "I'm truly sorry." He murmured kindly. Tawni quietened immediately and I exhaled at yet another girl falling for the charms of Chad Dylan Cooper.

"Tawni, you remember Chad, right?" I asked, unsure whether my statement would be true or not considering that for a large fraction of the time Tawni had spent around Chad, she had been unconscious. The other fraction, we were in the dark. But then again, Chad _was_ pretty memorable.

Tawni squinted a little, "Chad…" She mused. "Remind me?"

I didn't know if I wanted to. If we pointed out that Chad was present at the scene when we were both nearly murdered, I wasn't sure whether Tawni would scream and run away or hug onto Chad like metal to a magnet and never let go. Neither were desired outcomes on my part. I didn't know if Chad would be too fond of them either.

"It doesn't matter." I interjected before Chad tried to explain who he was. "He's just here for a little while, while he tries to find a new apartment."

Tawni nodded slowly, "Okay…" Her eyes were still squinted though. Chad and I shuffled a little, awkward under her gaze.

"So… the mall?" I reminded her. Of course, the mall is the scapegoat for if you ever want to distract Tawni, and it worked like a charm. She dragged me out of the kitchen, waving a small goodbye to Chad. I gave him a thumbs up as I left, and he smiled at me a little, seeming to get the message.

* * *

"So…"

Tawni seemed to be deliberating for a long time while we were at the mall. See, the thing is, my best friend's one of those girls who just can't stay away from gossip. Annoyingly. And, though my miniscule explanation of Chad's presence in my kitchen had pacified her while we left the block and drove some of the way to the mall, I had spent the last hour with Tawni giving me suspicious glances, sticking out her tongue in thought.

Okay, so subtlety isn't really her strong point. Another thing about Tawni.

"Tawni, you've had a face like someone who's been sucking lemons for the last hour." I told her before she could continue, "You've gotta stop doing that before someone thinks there's actually something wrong with your face and calls an ambulance."

Tawni smirked, "Mock me all you want, but I'll be the one laughing when I figure out what's going on with you and that Chad guy."

_Of course. _"And you'll do that, how? Are you just staring into my soul? Is that how this thing works? Are you a mind reader? Do you have Sherlock Holmes's powers of deduction?"

She wasn't going to argue with that anymore. "Geez, you're defensive today." She laughed, "What's the matter – mysterious boy in your kitchen rubbing you up the wrong way?"

"Nah," I shot back, "You're doing that all on your own."

"Well, whether he is or not, you should be careful." She said, her voice now a little more serious, a little more level. I sighed.

"I am being careful – he's not dangerous. He's just a guy."

"You don't know that." She replied, "But that wasn't what I was worried about." She then begins smiling, "He's kinda cute."

"Tawni, don't do this…" I moan. "Don't make me give you the whole _we're just friends _speech."

"Because it's baloney?" She prompted.

"Because it's a waste of time." I correct, "And besides, he's hardly gonna be around for much longer. Soon he'll be off in a whole different world to mine." I was glad that Tawni didn't seem to take that as literally as I _meant_ it. "There's no reason to get involved with him. And he has someone already."

Tawni seemed to give up on the matter at that, but I could still tell the cogs were turning in her mind.

This was ridiculous. I felt like I'd told pretty much everyone I knew the same thing; that Chad and I were friends, if that; that Chad would be leaving again soon so there was no point getting involved; that he already had someone anyway. I was getting fed up of the same pointless questions and accusations being thrown my way – from Tawni, Gemma… maybe even from myself, towards the beginning. It was irritating. It was unneeded.

Tawni definitely picked up on my impatience on the subject. Of course, while Tawni's a lovely girl in some cases and my best friend, she's still very persistent and also doesn't really know when to shut up. Tawni's constant chatter? Another thing that was, really, unneeded.

"Aww, Sonny, you need to lighten up."

"You need to _shut _up."

"Ooh, who put a bee in your bonnet this morning?" She cooed mockingly. I just snorted.

"You, probably." I added. Tawni laughed.

"_Son-_ayyy…"

"No, I was wrong." I decided jokingly, "It was you, _definitely."_

Tawni scoffed, and she took a large breath in to retort something, when suddenly we were shoved apart by two men colliding into us. Tawni yelled out some sort of profanity while I tried to regain my balance. She huffed at me.

"Rude." She muttered, before calling after the men, "Watch where you're going, jerkwads! And some _manners _would do you well, too!"

I might have said something myself – whether to Tawni or to the men, I wasn't really sure – had I have not felt sick at the very sight of those two men. Their faces weren't familiar, and there was nothing wrong with them really – they were carrying bags from the grocery store and hardware store. They were in a pretty hefty rush, but hey; I usually saw people around in a rush around the mall. Maybe they were late to work after picking up some supplies, their lunch?

No. Because, while there shouldn't have been anything to really strike fear into my heart because of these men, there was something. Something very clear – something I saw the second I got a proper glance at the men.

They were wearing suits. Sure; again, that shouldn't be too bad. Loads of people wore suits to work. These guys didn't have to be an exception, right?

One of them then turned back and I swallowed when I took in the dark sunglasses rested on his nose, over his eyes. _Inside. _It wasn't even that much of a sunny day.

I tried to locate some kind of excuse for this mildly odd behaviour. We lived in LA – loads of people wore sunglasses around here all the time.

But there was no excuse for what I saw next. Despite Tawni having being the one to scream at them, the man who turned around was clearly glaring at _me. _He gave me some kind of dark, knowing gaze. I shuffled awkwardly in place as he glared at me for a good few seconds before turning back to his companion. Tawni snorted next to me.

"What a weirdo." She muttered, before turning to me and adding, "Do you know that guy?"

My mouth felt dry, "Uh, no." I managed. It was convincing enough. I just hoped Tawni wasn't as suspicious as I was worried.

_S.O.U.L. _The men were _S.O.U.L._

I didn't know how I'd known it. Maybe I'd been hanging around Chad for too long; become as paranoid about that group as he was. Or maybe, I was right. Maybe that little instinct I'd received during my dream about Monica the other night was finally paying off, for real. Maybe, Monica was pointing me in the right direction – how, I don't know why. But there was no reason not to follow my instincts.

I told Tawni that we should split up for a while. It was a birthday soon, after all, and while I'd already bought her present, she didn't need to know that.

I followed the two men out of the mall, keeping as inconspicuous as a girl carrying her friend's half-a-dozen shopping bags could. I seemed to get the non-genius idea that hiding behind those bags would make me near invisible, and so I kept myself close to the wall, watching them. I just hoped that these weren't the men who had attacked me a few nights ago – I couldn't really tell, because it had been so dark and I hadn't really taken in their faces. That give me a small glimmer of hope that maybe _they _wouldn't recognise _me _either, but I wasn't completely sure. If they recognised me, then perhaps they would get suspicious with my involvement in everything that was going on, and being a known enemy of _S.O.U.L. _really wasn't on my wish list.

I tried to focus my hearing as well as I could so I could pick up what they were saying as they made their way further into the parking lot. I made my way, inconspicuously, towards Tawni's car, so that I could hear them better. But, unfortunately, when I got within hearing distance, there was no conversation to listen in to.

They were in their large black van, like the one Tawni and I had seen on that first night, within seconds. They took off at a speed that was fairly unnecessary. My shoulders slumped helplessly as I watched them, before something ignited in my chest. Suddenly overwhelmed, I knew immediately what I needed to do.

I was in Tawni's car before I could register it, and tugged my phone out of my pocket, sending my best friend a quick text about how I needed to borrow her car and would bring it back soon. It wasn't a lie – I did _need_ it. A girl's life depended on it. And, so long as I stayed out of trouble, I would be back soon. I wasn't planning on infiltrating the _S.O.U.L. _hideout, wherever it was. Not without Chad, or a death wish, perhaps. I just wanted to get an inkling of where Chad and I should start our search for Monica. If I found the exact spot of their hideout, well, that would be a bonus. Maybe locating Monica would be easier than either of us had anticipated.

Maybe Chad would be leaving faster that I was, secretly, ready for.

* * *

I started to regret following the men when the drive took me further out of my way than was necessary. I followed them along a lengthy highway for half an hour – maybe nearly an hour, by the time it was fully over. I spent the whole time trying to avoid giving them the sense that I was following them; otherwise my investigation would be over before it had even begun. I blended in around the other cars, whilst still keeping an eye on their dark, shiny, mysterious van. I even overtook them a few times, just to make sure that I didn't appear to be following their every move.

It was on one of my overtaking spells when they turned off. A small road led off of the highway and into a vast forest, which was equally as dark as the van. Something chilled inside of me, and while that instinct in my chest thrummed eagerly, I swallowed, not daring to turn back and follow them. I couldn't, anyway – not on the highway, not without potentially killing a couple of people, including myself.

At least I had a vague idea of where they were heading – maybe that was the _S.O.U.L. _hideout. Maybe Monica was there – that could've been why something was tugging at my chest, like it was dragging me in that very direction.

I turned around as soon as I was able. Driving past that little road made me shudder, but I didn't dare enter it. I made a mental note any time I saw a road sign, so that I knew where to lead Chad, and I was shocked when I began recognising my surroundings. I'd been away from here for so long that everything seemed warm, friendly, homely and welcoming. I wished I could hide in my apartment and never leave.

But I had a job to do.

I'd almost forgotten that I'd left Tawni on her own here. There was no denying it, though, when I found her stood at the parking lot entrance, her arms folded and her stare cold, but mocking. I winced as I pulled to a stop, scrambling over into the passenger's seat. Tawni sighed as she got in, sending a pointed look my way.

"Sorry," I apologised pitifully.

"Uh huh." Tawni replied shortly. She stuffed the three or four bags she was holding into the back with the other ones she had left with me earlier, and then she drove off, to take me back to my apartment.

Though I'd been an awful conversationalist earlier, now the tables had turned. I tried to keep conversation up as an apology to my best friend. She stayed quieter than was usual for a chatterbox like her, but that didn't mean that she was silent for the whole ride. She kept shooting me knowing looks though – what she knew (or _thought _she knew) I wasn't completely sure, but she was keeping something from me, and it certainly had an impact on the atmosphere in the car. It felt awkward; tense in comparison to the relaxed feeling I'd first felt upon entering the familiar streets. Now, I wished I was alone again.

I ran straight up to my apartment, giving Tawni a simple, "see you!" as I left. She just replied with a half-hearted, "later," and for that I was grateful. No difficult questions, no complicated labyrinths to trawl through – just the unspoken promise that some kind of conversation would be coming _soon. _

Chad was pretty much exactly where I'd left him, and something inside me screamed that surely that was unhealthy. I didn't really care though – not when I had the heavier weight of my latest discovery on my shoulders.

"Chad, I have news!" I informed him, slightly jitterier than was necessary. Chad jumped at my voice – obviously he hadn't been disturbed all day – and he threw up some kind of karate stance in defence before he realised it was me and snapped back into stoicism.

"News on what?" He asked, in a deeper voice than he would usually use. It almost made me want to giggle – he was probably trying to defend his pride, his dignity. Clearly a heroic and strong guy like Chad thought that he shouldn't be so weak and so was balancing it out. It didn't really work in my eyes – I don't know about Chad's.

"Something to help our search for Monica." I replied, taking a seat next to Chad, who still didn't turn from the computer screen.

"Mmm?" He said, "And is it another one of those _books_ of yours?" His tone was almost patronising. I didn't get it. The guy seemed to change personalities like the change of the seasons.

"No," I shot back, equally as snide, "_actually, _I managed to find real _S.O.U.L. _men." Chad turned from the screen for the first time, "I may have even located their hideout, or where Monica is."

His eyes softened at the mention of Monica. Of course.

"You think so?"

"Fairly certain." I nodded, emphasising the action of folding my arms. "_Thank you, Sonny."_

Chad bowed his head a little, sighing, "Sonny, how did you get this information, exactly?"

"I followed one of their vans." I shrugged.

Chad sighed, almost impatient, but he clearly knew it was futile to argue when he replied with a weak, "Sonny…"

"If I hadn't, we wouldn't have this lead." I moaned, well aware I was starting to act like an impatient child, "Chad, just trust me on this. We could be one step closer to finding Monica, but if we don't investigate, we'll never know."

"It could be a trap." He argued quietly.

"And if it isn't?" I retorted.

His mind seemed fairly made up at that suggestion. "Right." He said, standing from his seat.

"Where are you going?" I asked him. He turned to face me and gave me, for the first time since the beginning of our conversation, a smile. It was daring and cheeky, and it filled me with excitement. _This _was the Chad I had been desperate to see in action. He seemed to have, finally, ignored any worry about me getting in his way or getting in trouble, and now just seemed ready for an _adventure. _I hadn't read far enough into the book to have reached scenes where Chad acted like this, but this was the Chad who people that had finished ready the book already would probably name the "epic" Chad. The thought made me laugh and for once I wasn't craving the scene in the book, because I was experiencing this energy first-hand.

"Let's go find out," He replied simply. His energy reverberated onto me and, grinning, I shot up from my seat and followed Chad straight out of the front door.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading :) Don't forget to review!**

**See you next time :) I'm hoping that'll be very close, because I have a vague plan for the next chapter, and it should be exciting! I'm sure eager to get it written!**

**~Amy x**


	10. Tracking

**A/N: Gotta say, I'm pretty proud of myself :P Welcome to chapter 10 of _Lost Soul - _and I've gotten back into the story now! *cheers* It is better planned out now, too, so I'm hoping updates will be more frequent. Maybe not as quickly as this one, but hopefully not every other month, like they were being. I dunno who reads this anymore, but if you do, I'm grateful! I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

**Over two years have passed since the end of SWAC and I still don't own it. **

* * *

**Lost Soul**

**Chapter 10 - Tracking**

Chad sure had to put a lot of faith in me to be so willing to go anywhere I told him to. I was actually kind of amazed at his undying patience – there were a number of times when I drove us in one direction, and then realised with a groan that I'd taken the wrong direction and had to turn us around.

I tried not to talk too much so that I could focus on the road, but there was a particularly long stretch of road that gave me plenty of time to gather my thoughts.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked, hoping that Chad's (supposed) experience in this kind of (shall we say) mission would come in handy. Chad thought for a second.

"We need to get there first." He decided, "Figure out what's there. Figure out how many men are there. If there's only a handful, I could probably take them out. If there's more than that… a quieter approach would probably be smarter."

"So we don't draw too much attention to ourselves?"

"Exactly." Chad nodded, "We don't know what could be there – plans, maps." He sighed, "Maybe Monica herself."

For the first time since I'd started this hair-brain scheme, I was beginning to have doubts. "Chad, there might not even be anything there…"

"But if we don't look," Chad interrupted with a smile, "How will we know?"

"Good point." I groaned.

"_Your_ point." He reminded me, "We won't know unless we try."

I twiddled my thumbs uselessly, "I just… don't want you getting hurt."

Chad grinned at me, "That's very caring of you." He said, sounding falsely surprised. "I didn't know you _cared_ about me – you only seem in this to get yourself into trouble."

"Well, between you and me…" I leaned a little closer to him, my eyes still on the road. I spoke in a secretive voice, "I really love that book."

Chad let out an incredulous chuckle.

"I'm serious," I joked, "I really wanna read the rest of that story! That way, you can't spoil it for me. The sooner I get rid of you, the sooner your blabbing, spoiler-spewing mouth goes too." I added a well-timed stick out of my tongue, and he smirked.

"Well, hey, you don't need to worry about me." He said, "Trust me – _I'm_ the one who needs to worry about _you_."

I groaned, "We've been over this – you don't-,"

Chad snorted, "Sonny, I'm joking." He said, "See? Neither of us needs to worry, so long as we stick close, and-" he poked a finger in my chest, "-_don't_ do anything stupid."

"Who, _me?_" I smiled innocently, batting my eyelashes.

"Yeah, _you._" Chad mocked my tone perfectly, "I can see you screwing this up in one way or another, so let's get the ground rules straight now – don't run off, don't leave me, don't even _try _to do anything stupid, or we might not live to regret it." Somewhere through his little speech, he'd gone from joking, to serious, and then back to joking as he gave me a soft smile. "Got it?" He added finally, sneering at me. I shoved his knee.

"I'll try to remember."

* * *

It was probably two hours later – double the time it had taken me to follow the men the first time around – when we arrived at the little road. Swallowing, I took the turned carefully and slowed my car right down, before stopping it as soon as I was able, pulling to the side of the road.

"Here we are." I announced quietly. It wasn't that I wasn't excited – admittedly, I was. It was like being in an action movie. But that didn't ease up the ill feeling that ate away at my stomach, churning my nerves into mush. That dark gaze one of the men had shot my way suddenly imprinted itself into my memory, and I remembered the gun shot from the night I met Chad and wished I could turn around and never return to this place.

But along with that fear, was an ironic courage. I _was_ ready, I _could_ do this – I _would_ stick with Chad and help him find Monica. I _would _be of use here – I refused to be anything but that.

Chad, beside me, was a mystery. While he had spent the first few minutes of our journey in _epic_-Chad mode, a mixture of my terrible navigation skills, the nerves of seeing Monica again, and the thought of what _S.O.U.L. _could be doing gnawing away at his head, seemed to have deteriorated that mode into something more quiet and reserved. The determination was still clear, though – like me, he was ready. He would not let Monica down, and I, in return, would not let him down.

We got out of the car and stood beside it, staring straight at the huge forest which was blocking out the usual Californian sunlight which was so friendly and familiar to me. The forest stretched across the horizon – both ways I looked, the only thing I could see was rows of spectacular green trees. I wondered if it was the same forest as the one around Tawni's house – one that stretched for miles and miles. If that was the case, well, we were gonna be searching for a long time.

Chad seemed pretty determined, nonetheless. He strode towards the forest, and so I followed suit, the anxiety in my chest mixing with that burning desire and making me feel a bit nauseous. I swallowed back whatever fear was residing in my throat as the shadows swept over us, leaving that familiar glow that was the Californian sunlight behind. It was like travelling into another world, crossing the border.

Out of my world, where everything was so ordinary and boring and _made sense. _Out of that world, and into Chad's.

I didn't know whether to be excited or terrified.

* * *

We had been walking around as what I could only assume as aimlessly for about fifteen minutes when Chad paused. He knelt down to the ground, inspecting something. I knelt beside him and straight away it was obvious what we were looking at.

"Tyre tracks." I mumbled. Chad nodded.

"Yup."

"They're clearly not very good at covering their tracks." I said, "Maybe they're not expecting anyone to come through here or they would've hidden themselves better – that gives us the upper hand, right?"

Chad pulled a face, "Or maybe it means they are expecting us, and have set a trap." He mused.

"Oh, great." I drawled, "Look on the bright side of life, and all that."

"Trust me, Sonny, if there's on thing my uncle has improved in _S.O.U.L._, it's the security." He stood up, slowly, gripping my hand. "Just… stay close."

"I wasn't planning on doing anything else." I said as he looked around, trying to figure out which way to go next. "So I take it we're not going home now."

"Not a chance." Chad gave me a hollow smile, his anxiety level visually rising a little due to the fact that his uncle could've planned for his arrival. I awaited his decision, equally worried. "We'll follow the tracks." He decided carefully after a few moments thought, "See if we come across anything else."

And so we did follow the tracks. They faded at some points, while at others they were clear in the mud. I couldn't help being impressed at how they had navigated that large van around so many trees without crashing.

Our trek was pretty long. There could have been as much as full half-hour walks before we found another set of tracks. I couldn't tell, thanks to the tangled branches dangling above my head, whether it was still daylight or not. I checked my phone every now and again, and when it started to get late I texted my Mom saying that I was at Tawni's, sent Tawni a message saying I was ill at home with Mom, and hoped that neither of them would call the other to check on me.

The silences between discoveries of tracks were unbearable. The only time Chad would talk was when he found another track – the rest of the time he spent fully focused on the ground, like a hunting dog, trained from birth for this very task. To entertain this thought, I imagined a large, fluffy, yellow Labrador with Chad's big, blue eyes, and chuckled at the comparison. It was pretty fascinating to see him work, despite the overriding theme of boredom coursing through the air. I got out my phone at one point to play games and fight the boredom, but Chad just said, as it got darker, that the light from my phone might give away our position. After that, whenever I needed to check my phone, I made more of a big deal of hiding the screen's light from anyone's potential sight than was probably necessary.

I checked the time once more as the natural silence fell on the forest. Animal noises were no longer disturbing us; the only noises I could make out were the soft padding of our feet on the floor, the crunching that this padding would be replaced with as we stepped over leaves, the whistling of the wind, and the tapping of my phone keys as I sent Tawni a quick text explaining that I had no idea how I'd developed a fever so quickly when I'd seemed fine only a few hours ago. She seemed more suspicious of me than she'd ever been before, and she wouldn't stop messaging me. At one point in the evening I put my phone on vibrate so to not draw in attention from the loud blaring of my ringtone, and it was about half ten when I told her, finally, that I was tired and needed sleep. Fortunately, no messages came in after that besides a short, _'goodnight'. _She was clearly cross with me, but I would deal with it tomorrow. That is, _if_ I was home by tomorrow.

As I put away my phone after sending this final message, Chad almost growled in front of me, frustration clear in his voice. Carefully, I approached him, closing the few feet which had separated us for the last few hours. The leaves crunched under my feet, and I wished the noise didn't have to be so outstanding. I could feel the tension resting on my shoulders as it was; I didn't need this clumsy noise irritating Chad past what I could handle. I was sure he was growing as impatient as I was – more so, perhaps. He had been doing all the work, after all. He cared for Monica more than I did, and he was the one with overly unpredictable mood swings. And _I _was the teenage girl here.

"Chad?" I spoke softly, only a few steps now separating us. I hoped my gentle tones wouldn't spring him into an unneeded frenzy, and the universe seemed to respect my wishes as he remained perfectly still, not facing me. "Is everything alright, Chad?" I asked, reaching out in front of me, unsure whether to touch his shoulder or not in comfort. It was dark – too dark – and I began to wish I'd brought a flashlight. I then remembered that I had my phone on me, and hoped that it had enough battery left to guide our way, should we need it. I was finding myself slightly tired though – I had not really lied to Tawni on that front, after all – and then wondered if we would be stopping for sleep or if Chad planned to go on all night. Something told me he was close to stopping point.

"We've found nothing." He sighed, disappointment and anger colouring his tone in a solemn shade of blue and a fiery shade of red. "We've been walking for _hours _and all we've found is some _useless _tyre tracks."

I could tell Chad was irritable. I pulled my hand away from its position hovering above his shoulder and stepped back a couple of steps. Satisfied I was now a safe and respectable distance away from Chad, I began to spoke.

"We've made some decent progress-,"

"We've _wasted time." _Chad groaned, punching the tree beside him. It was only a half-hearted effort though – I knew that, should he have punched a little harder, the tree would probably be on its side by now. With that thought in mind though, it startled me to watch Chad then sink to his knees, his head in his hands. Unsure of exactly what to do, but unwilling to stand there useless and pathetic, I knelt down beside Chad, now risking touching his shoulder, because he was my friend and he needed comforting. His small outburst aimed at the tree seemed to have released all his anger, and so he, surprisingly, allowed my hand to rest there.

"You're doing your best, Chad." I comforted carefully. "We'll find her; I promise."

Chad sighed. "I'm just… worried about her." He confessed, "I know my uncle, I know _S.O.U.L.; _I know what it's like to sit there and rot in their hands, and it's not fun."

"You _what?"_ I asked, but Chad seemed to have forgotten he'd even said the words.

"We need to find her." He announced, "As soon as possible."

And he was back up on his feet. I followed him up, not letting my hand move from its position on his shoulder.

"Chad, I think we need to rest."

I expected some kind of fight to come out of him, but he surprised me yet again as he simply nodded.

"Rest will be good." He agreed, his voice calm and accepting. _See?_ Mood swings. "We can't see anything when it's this dark anyway."

"Where should we sleep?" I asked, hoping he'd had more experience of sleeping out in the open then I had. I hadn't camped in years – I missed it, but I never got the chance anymore; not without Dad. I shooed the nasty thought into the back of my mind where it was forgotten.

Chad spotted a small cave which we could probably sleep in a few metres ahead of where we'd stopped, among a couple of fallen trees and random stumps. I couldn't see it at first because of the dark and the other obstacles, but as we got closer it was more visible.

Something stirred inside me. This place was now truly visible – in more ways than one. That intuition I'd felt a few hours ago, when we first started walking (I hadn't felt it stir since then) seemed to awaken. Chad seemed suddenly hesitant beside me, like he'd picked it up, too.

As we approached the cave, two men stood either side of the entrance were much more visible. I swallowed audibly. _Guards? _We hid behind one of the trees that were still standing around this cave, and I gave myself a minute to examine it. It was like a large rock – probably the same size as my kitchen, but with a much lower 'ceiling' – with a hole in the front, like a doorway, but with no door. I was baffled as to why I hadn't noticed it before, despite being quite far away. Chad and I scuttled towards the next tree to the right and I realised, with a smirk, where the van was hidden. Stumps surrounded it along the back and sides, like a makeshift garage, with just space on our side for it to get out. I snorted.

"Conspicuous." I murmured to Chad. He adopted a small smirk for a moment, before he went back to studying the entrance to the cave. I looked, too.

"Think they're _S.O.U.L.?" _I asked. They weren't wearing suits, like all the other men had, but that didn't change my mind on the subject.

"Mm-hmm." Chad murmured.

"What do you think they could be guarding?" I whispered.

"There's only one way to find out." Chad shrugged as he made a move to leave our hiding spot. I tugged him back, overly careful to not allow any noises to be made that would give away our position.

"Are you _kidding?_" I hissed. He raised an eyebrow at me and I rolled by eyes. And this was the guy who was worried about _me _giving away our position with my _phone light. _"They have us stymied, Chad."

Chad let a cheeky grin light up his face. I wanted to smack my face in exasperation, and his. "No; _we _have _them _stymied."

"Sure about that?" I sighed, "They're blocking the place we want to go. There's two of them and one of you – I'm not gonna be any help. And I'm pretty sure they have _guns._"

Chad feigned a look of shock, "You forget who you're talking to, Sonny." He winked.

I groaned quietly, letting go of his arm. I watched as he crept carefully, his line of sight switching between the floor, so to not step on something that would give him away, and his targets. I wasn't surprised at his cautious, soundless movements – I wouldn't call it 'graceful', but he was certainly no bear stomping in the woods. He'd had practice.

My composed stance was thrown into turmoil as something buzzed inside my jacket pocket. I gasped. My damn phone was vibrating. _Tawni…_

In shock, I stumbled backwards, and something cracked; perhaps a twig. It didn't matter what it was, though, because that noise was then followed by a mumbling near to the caves.

The men had heard me.

Remaining ramrod straight and perfectly still, I held in my breath, rested my back against the tree, and silently prayed that I wouldn't be found. I heard footsteps heading my way, and a small murmur of, "This way!". I bit my lip, worried that my breathing pattern would betray me should I give it reason. I turned my head slowly and warily, hoping to catch sight of the men without revealing myself. The men were about ten feet from my tree – two times closer than they'd been before – and could probably hear my heart thrumming nervously in my chest. I knew Chad was somewhere nearby, and on their tails, and I hoped that my stupid act of carelessness hadn't given our raid away before we'd even began it.

A rustle. A gasp. A smacking noise, and then someone fell to the ground with a thud, leaves crackling around him. I listened out as the second man grunted, and I peeked around to see Chad snatch his gun from him as he fell to the ground. Chad looked up at me with a reassuring smile, waving the gun above his head. I wished that he wouldn't be so careless with such a dangerous weapon.

"We need to hide them," I whispered loudly as I approached him. "The guns."

"And the men." Chad added, "Or… tie them up or something. If we're resting here tonight, we can't have them attacking us in our sleep."

"Is that a good idea?" I squawked.

"You wanted to sleep, right?" Chad reminded me. I didn't know if I wanted to anymore; not when there were guns around. "Relax." Chad clearly noticed my discomfort, "If you want to go home, I'm not stopping you."

I tensed at that immediately, "I'm _not _leaving."

"Gotcha." Chad grinned, "So, will you help me hide these guys or what?"

* * *

Our task was much easier than expected. The two men each had a bag of supplies on them, which were stuffed with, among other things, rope and cloth, which Chad used as gags. He then was able to show off his climbing skills along with his strength as he took the men up to the highest branch of a tree a few metres away from the cave. Like some kind of monkey with a younger one on its back, he scaled up the tree, placing each unconscious man up there – one at a time – and left them with their hands tied together with the rope and their mouths gagged with the cloth. He was fairly convinced that, by the time they escaped, we would be awake; hopefully we'd have finished our raid and would be on our way home, with whatever cargo (or passengers) we'd picked up in the cave.

When we got a glance at this cave, I realised that our search would probably be quite lengthy. Towards the back wall of the small 'room' was a narrow slope down under the ground. The hallway looked no taller than Chad and wide enough for us to only travel in single file. I suppressed the feeling of claustrophobia to the back of my mind, against my better judgement (it wasn't the best idea to hide it all away to explode later), and swallowed back my fears while Chad rooted through the men's backpacks we'd kept with us. I almost cheered when he tugged out a blanket from each pack. I was quite surprised at the extensiveness of these supplies, but I wasn't complaining. Even in this sheltered cave, a chill whistled around me, making me shiver.

Chad threw one of the blankets towards me, before he began to fold the other into a small, tight, rectangular shape. He placed that down on the left-hand side of the cave, against the wall. I then realised it was to be used as a pillow. He gestured towards it, treating me with a smile.

"There you go." He chirped, a friendly tone decorating his voice. It was heart-warming to hear that tone, but I didn't want to take away his blanket.

"Chad, it's yours." I protested, "I don't want you being uncomfortable." He took a breath to argue. "And before you say anything, I don't _need _you taking care of me. I'm not a baby deer; I don't need your constant doting."

Chad pulled an exasperated face, "Don't want to hurt your pretty little neck, do ya?"

I sighed. "Stop it. Chivalry is dead, remember?"

Chad just shrugged, "Not when I'm around."

"I'll use my jacket as a pillow," I decided, shrugging off my jacket and throwing Chad back his blanket before he could protest. "Thanks for trying, though. Your dad raised you to be a gentleman."

"Mmm." Chad mumbled, and I gulped as I realised it probably wasn't the best idea to bring up his deceased father, despite the five years since his death. Too late. I folded my jacket into a little pillow similar to what Chad had done, and then lied down on my back, resting my makeshift pillow against the cave wall and laying the blanket across my body. The blanket was only small and my feet poked out the other end, but I wasn't going to complain when the alternative was to go without. I shrugged the blanket up to cover my shoulders, and was grateful I was wearing my long boots to stop the cold attacking below my knees.

The silence fell across our little improvised campsite. Chad lay beside me, shuffling for a few seconds before falling completely still. I, on the other hand, am a restless sleeper, and so spent a good few minutes shuffling, rolling over, and sighing in exasperation at my inability to get comfortable. I knew why – I was never good sleeping in a new bed. Pfft, and this wasn't really even a _bed. _I rolled over to face Chad, who was closest to the front of the cave – I had been staring at the little hallway further into the cave, which made me feel sick when I stared at it – because he thought that he would be able to protect me should anyone arrive, or should our prisoners escape unexpectedly and pounce on us in the night. I was far more worried about the men who _may or may not _be down that corridor, waiting for us to doze into unconsciousness so they could take us captive while we slept. I trusted in Chad's protection; I just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

There was something else about Chad that was gnawing silently at the back of my conscious. It was probably about twenty minutes since we'd lay down when I spoke up, unsure of whether or not it was a good idea, seeing as Chad may be asleep already. It wasn't important, and so if Chad was asleep I wouldn't pester him. But the thought _was _pestering me, so I was curious.

"Chad?" I whispered.

Chad sighed, rolling over to face me. He looked tired and I cringed.

"You were asleep?"

He shook his head, "You?"

"Nah," I huffed. "Stupid rocks on the floor."

Chad breathed a snigger. "What's the problem?"

I bit my lip. Was this really a good thing to be asking him? "You said, earlier…" I inhaled carefully, "that you knew what it was like to rot in your uncle's hands, or…something like that."

Chad frowned. I felt a little guilty, but I tried to push that aside.

"I wanted to know… um… what did you mean by that?"

I spent a good few seconds awaiting his reply. At one point I doubted that he would even bother to reply. But he didn't disappoint; not exactly.

"You've read in the book." He shrugged, his voice quiet and withdrawn. "I spent five years under his so-called _care _'cos there was no-one else. What more is there to know?"

I bit my lip, "Right." I mumbled, "Night, Chad."

I rolled onto my back, exhaling. He turned over, too, with his back to me. "Good night, Sonny."

This time, sleep came to me almost unnaturally quickly.

* * *

**A/N: Be sure to review! :D**

**~Amy x**


	11. Short Stack

**A/N: Iiiiiit's new chapter time! Are you as excited as I am? Let's do this! ;D**

Guest - **Thank you for all your reviews! Sorry I kept you waiting - I hope you enjoy this next chapter :)**

Lisaaaaaaaaa - **Haha, it might be a little evil to want that! :P But don't worry! If you know me at all, with me, Channy's endgame. Or is it...? o_O We will see :D**

**I don't own Sonny with A Chance. **

* * *

**Lost Soul**

**Chapter 11 - Short Stack**

Waking up on the hard, pebble-ridden floor was painful. My back ached, and there was a small cut along the back of my hand where I must've rubbed it against a sharp stone in the night. It wasn't very big or worrying, but I decided to try my best to clear the little cut of blood, and hoped that somewhere in the never-ending backpacks there was a first aid kit. I groaned in discomfort as I rolled from facing the cave wall to facing Chad – or that is, where I expected Chad to be.

But unfortunately, where I expected Chad to be and where he actually _was_ were two entirely different things. As I slipped further into consciousness, a mumbling became clearer to me. It wasn't a gentle mumbling, like I would've hoped – the mumble sounded angry, heated. This noise shocked me into full consciousness and I shot up, gulping and wondering why I hadn't noticed this already.

Chad was stood - not laying beside me - his sharp blue eyes piercing the two men stood in front of him. I couldn't recall them as being the men from last night or not, but there was no doubt in my mind that they were the enemy – especially when I registered the obvious mutual fury shared between Chad and the men.

But then they seemed to stop and notice me, and while Chad's face registered something of worry, one of the men – the one closest to Chad – smirked.

"Your precious girlfriend has woken up, then."

The man closest to me yanked me to my feet and snaked his arms around my throat, while the other gripped Chad and secured him in a headlock, too. If it wasn't for the firm hands locked tightly around my neck I'd have laughed. Putting Chad in a headlock was like encasing a dragon in a rusting cage.

The determination and sharpness in Chad's eyes hadn't disappeared since the moment I'd opened my eyes. He was clearly ready for something to happen, and I knew straight away that our attackers were fools for seemingly forgetting or not noticing this. Chad attempted some sort of signalling nod, making out like it was all he could handle at this point – though I knew he was feigning his apparent inability to break free of his captor's grasp – before he darted his eyes towards the cave entrance. I knew what it meant. _Run, _he was telling me, _Run and keep running. _

I supposed that I would probably be of more use away from the fray than within it, when it broke out. So within seconds of mentally and physically preparing myself, I was ready to get out of there. I elbowed my attacker sharply in the gut. I found myself almost grinning sadistically as he jerked back and cried out in agony, moaning various curses. I was out of there as fast as I could, only sparing a short glance at Chad that I knew he would believe to cost me valuable time.

Another profanity exploded from my captor's lips, as he shot a deathly glance my way. I could only see this because I was still watching the scene, while running at the same time. I stumbled on something – a root, maybe? – but I didn't stop running, however scrambled and messy my footing was.

I took another glance back and then I saw it – Chad finally fighting back. He had escaped from the grip of his aggressor and had seemingly thrown him to the floor. The man looked dazed on the ground, while Chad began hand-to-hand combat with the one who held me – the darker-haired, shorter man of the two.

Watching Chad fight for real was kind of surreal to me. It was the first time I'd properly seen him attack someone, in broad daylight, and it didn't feel right. I didn't imagine Chad as one of those natural-born fighters – he didn't have the look of a weak, frail person, but then again, he was no large, stocky, six-foot monster. Seeing him fight like this just made it all so real, and yet all so fake, all at the same time.

And that's what I thought of as the cave disappeared and the trees enveloped my view – that this was just yet more proof of the oddity of my situation.

* * *

Chad found me a couple of minutes after I arrived at a decent hiding spot – so clearly he'd had no difficulty whatsoever in taking down our ambushers. I'd found a perfectly hollow tree trunk, rolled myself into a little ball, and waited for only a few moments before Chad's footsteps were approaching me. I wasn't absolutely sure that they were his – but I'd be foolish to doubt it. _I'd_ broken away from these guys, for crying out loud!

"You alright in there, _short stack?"_ He nearly cooed, bending down so that only below his knees and his head were in view from my point. It looked pretty uncomfortable, but I was focussed on something else entirely.

"_Short stack?" _I was almost smirking. "What's with the weird nickname?"

Chad smirked too, "Well, you're short." He explained.

"Wow." I drawled, "Thank you; I had no idea. I best get a pin with that nickname on so I don't forget about my inferior height."

Chad laughed, falsely hurt, "Hey, I wasn't finished! I was gonna say you're short, and sweet." He scuffed his shoes against the floor, sneering at me, "But guess you didn't want to hear it."

_Oh my. _"Hey, don't use your flirting tactics on me." I warned, climbing out of my hiding spot and shoving him, "I've read _all _about them."

Chad clicked his tongue. "Well, then you know how much of a great flirter I am."

I shoved him again, "I also know you have a girlfriend."

"Yeah." He simply said.

* * *

Our walk back to the cave was a short but quiet one. It wasn't awkward in any way – well, not for Chad – but I was too busy reassessing every decision I'd ever made in my life _ever_.

All because of a couple of words.

_"You're short… _andsweet_."_

_Sweet._

What the hell did that _mean?!_

Sweet?! How was I _sweet?_ And why was he calling me _sweet?_ Was he just joking around?

Probably. I mean, he had Monica – the girl he cared for so much, who could've been a few mere hours away from him. He was just messing around with me. I knew it.

Besides, now that we were back near the cave, he seemed to have returned to the quiet, stony, _laser-vision _Chad whose determination to succeed excelled him. The two men who had attacked us were flat out on their backs, still passed out. Chad assured me that they weren't dead, but I knew he was fully capable of causing their demise and so crouched down just to check for their breathing. He picked up their belongings that we could use as supplies while I shot the two of them a pitiful look and followed Chad.

Standing in front of that skinny hallway that led into the underground made me feel sick. My head span at the very notion of having to go down it – not to mention it was pitch black through there – no torches to light the way, no daylight seeping through some kind of skylight. There was a glow at the end of the tunnel, but that was probably a good couple of hundred metres away. Instinctively I reached for Chad's hand and squeezed it.

"Scared of the dark?" Chad asked. I couldn't decide whether he was mocking me or genuinely asking. I was hardly listening, what with the thrumming in my ears. I just sort of nodded pathetically. "Hey, don't worry." Chad said, and this time I could tell that he was definitely comforting. Something in my chest bubbled at this.

Chad gripped my hand harder. "Don't worry," He whispered, "We'll borrow the torch down there when we get there. You just need to make it a few metres."

_Few _hundred_, more like… _"Don't they have… torches in their packs or something?" I asked, my voice shaking, "You know… _actual, _electronic ones?"

Chad shook his head, the frown one of sympathy. For the first time, I didn't tell him to stop pitying me. "I'm here, don't worry. I'll help you. Just… think of something else while you go down. Close your eyes and think about something else. I promise you'll be fine."

Once I was ready – I'd taken a few deep breaths and calmed myself, with Chad's help – Chad gently tugged me along like a towboat, down into the darkness. The daylight slowly disappeared as we got further and further in, deeper and deeper underground. Biting my lip, I slammed my eyelids shut and tried to follow Chad's advice.

My mind immediately led me towards my previous thoughts of Chad. Chad and that _nickname_.

Not that it bothered me. Not really. It was just _why _he gave it to me that worried me. Not the '_short'_ part – I'm used to being shorter than pretty much anyone I know – but the _sweet. Sweet? Me? _Why was he calling me sweet? Didn't he have Monica?

I was probably thinking too far into it, I began to suggest to myself. It was just a cute little endearing nickname – there was nothing behind it.

Not in Chad's eyes, anyway. But it mine, it was just another irritating reminder of my obsession with the character of Chad in the book. It made me feel uncomfortable. Obsessing over a fictional character, well, it was normal (to some people…) – girls my age always did it. But crushing on a guy who already _had _someone, and who _was _real? Now that just made me feel sad. Sad and guilty.

It just wouldn't leave me alone. No matter how much I tried to deny it, no matter who I told that it was untrue…

Those feelings wouldn't _stop._

"Ow!"

"Sorry," I heard Chad mumble as a pain shot up my toe. "This way…"

He led me away from the wall I seemed to have bumped into by just a few inches, before we continued straight. My eyes fluttered a bit and I realised how far away we were for the entrance and how there was no turning back now. I froze, my feet seemingly having frozen in place. Chad paused. I didn't know what he was doing, but I could just imagine the confusion on his face, highlighting his blue eyes. It was a surprise those shining eyes weren't a source of light in these tunnels.

"Is everything okay, Sonny?"

I opened my mouth to talk, but thought I would heave. "I feel sick." I managed.

"Sit down." He instructed me carefully. I didn't know if he knew exactly how to deal with this crumbly, shaking girl in his hands, but his gentle tone distracted me from my fears for just a moment. I sat down, leaning my back against the stone walls, tilting my head back. My stomach chose that time to start rumbling and I swear I could have passed out.

I heard some movement and felt a weight on my knee, and I turned to my right to see a sort-of outline of Chad's body. I could imagine his smile; comforting, friendly.

"Do you need a rest?" He asked. I felt so stupid. I was being selfish and weak, and we needed to get moving. No doubt the _S.O.U.L. _men had woken up and knew where we had gone. Maybe they were only a few metres behind.

"I-," My voice shook, "I'm being silly. Let's go."

I tried to get to my feet, but I just felt light-headed again. The darkness was enveloping me, and my fear and hunger were gnawing away at my insides. I felt Chad's arm wrap around my back, while the other stayed rested on my knee. I didn't know whether his embrace was comforting and calming me down, or just making me feel more encased. My stomach rumbled – much louder now – and the sound echoed up and down the tunnels. I hoped that this wouldn't give us away to any suspecting men or stalkers we may have picked up.

"You're hungry?" Chad whispered. I nodded, before pathetically realising he couldn't see it. He seemed to have guessed that I'd done so, though, because I sudden felt his hand move from my own, and then it was replaced with something soft. I recognised the texture – it was a little handful of bread. My mouth watered at the pleasure of the smell which soon reached my nostrils. When had I last eaten anyway? Had we eaten this morning? No, we'd been ambushed. Did I eat dinner last night? I couldn't place a memory of it. In spite of my light-headedness and my confusion at when my last meal was, I had no problem wolfing down the handful of bread.

"Found that in the pack?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I found myself incredibly thankful we'd come across those men both last night and this morning.

"Ready to get going again?" Chad asked me. I took a couple of deep breaths, encouraging myself to continue with the thought of our potentially-approaching enemy, and after a few more moments I was ready to get going again. With the darkness masking everything, I'd pretty much forgotten the enclosed space we were in, and my claustrophobia outweighed my miniscule, childhood-rooted fear of the dark.

We were back in the light soon after, anyway. We'd only had about seventy-five more metres to go when I freaked out, and I know I was grateful to finally reach the light at the end of the tunnel. As soon as I was back in the light, and my eyes had adjusted to colour once again, I had a check around the room we were in. It was certainly more comfortable for me than the tunnel was – the ceiling was a metre or so higher, and the whole room was about five-by-five metres in area. There were torches lining the walls – two on each wall – and on each wall there was a little tunnel leading to somewhere else. The one that we had come from was the smallest and the most poorly lit – Chad suggested that this was due to them trying to remain inconspicuous. The three other tunnels were wider – wide enough for Chad and I to walk beside each other and still have plenty of elbow room – and I could see the tell-tale glowing of fire down each of the three corridors. The torches – both the half a dozen or so in this hall and the ones lining the corridors – were held by sconces.

"So which way?" I asked Chad, having no idea myself. Chad seemed equally bemused, though.

"I don't know," He sighed, looking down the corridor to the left of the entrance. He then crouched down, checking the sandy rock below our feet. I guessed he was looking for someone's tracks, footprints, to give us a clue of where people could have come from. I decided to be of use and check myself – I tiptoed towards the corridor opposite that awful entrance – and studied the dust carefully. The ground was definitely worn and scruffy, and I suddenly considered that it would be stupid of them to light a tunnel that was not of use. Unless, of course, it was used as some sort of trap. But to trap whom, exactly? I had no idea.

Just to be sure, I checked the corridor to the right, which had also obviously been followed down by someone lately. Chad confirmed that his has been followed too, and so that plan was shattered.

"So, what, or who, we're looking for could be anywhere down these tunnels." I sighed, "And we have no idea how big this place could be."

"For all we know, this could be your underground city, Sonny." Chad said, and suddenly I felt myself shuddering. This could be as large as a city? Add that to the fact that this place was such a labyrinth, I feared we'd not be back in the daylight for quite a while. I hoped I would be able to keep in contact with my mother down here.

"So, what do we do?" I asked. "Split up?" I could tell Chad was hesitant straight away. "It'd be best," I said, trying to avoid an argument – especially in enemy territory. "We'd cover more ground, and we could meet back here in a little while."

Chad pinched the bridge of his nose, "I know I'm not gonna be able to change your mind on this, so why not?"

I grinned, "Great."

"But I have rules for this-,"

"Ooh, rules!" I exclaimed mockingly, but Chad was too busy being… well, annoying, unpredictable-yet-too-predictable Chad. Taking everything way more seriously than was necessary.

"Seriously, Sonny," He said warily, coming a little too close, "We split for an hour, two at best. We meet straight back here when we're done, and in case we get lost or caught, we set a trail for the other person to follow to find us. Got it?"

"Yeah, okay, deal." I said, giving Chad a smile just to reassure him. He didn't seem too impressed, but he didn't argue. Maybe he felt exactly the same as I did about the prospect of disputing behind enemy lines.

I turned to make my way down the corridor to the right of the entrance. I turned back as I approached it to see that Chad hadn't moved. He was frowning a little.

"Be careful, Sonny." He said carefully. I gave him a smile.

"You too, Chad."

I had to tear my eyes away from his to get on with my self-chosen task. In fact, I knew that if he'd called me _short stack, _I wouldn't have been able to drag myself away from that room; away from _Chad. _

The hall faded behind me, and I submerged deeper into the darker, lonelier tunnels, realising my plan probably was a mistake as the tunnels became darker and darker, less and less well-lit. This tunnel was more extensive than the entrance one – it had several different paths leading off from the bigger one – some of them just leading to doors (possibly bedrooms or something) while others led into tunnels much like the entrance one – dark, and of an unknown, indeterminable, and frightening length. I made a vow not to go into any of those; at least, not without a torch.

Anywhere that I deemed it useful – like when I turned a corner, for example – I drew an arrow in the sandy rock under my feet. I hoped that Chad would pick up my trail, should I have gotten lost. I even dropped a few bread crumbs at one point in Hansel-and-Gretel style, but gave up that idea when I realised that the crumbs looked just like the small rocks and so the effort was pretty worthless.

I checked my phone about thirty minutes into my search, wondering whether I should turn back or not. A sound suddenly alerted me though; it was forward, and to the left. I walked forward a few metres to be met with two tunnels; one to the left, and one to the right. The small, fearful part of me suggested that I just give up and turn back for Chad, but my curiosity of the noise to my left got the better of me, and before my brain could register it, my feet were moving down that way.

The little tunnel was only about a hundred metres long, as well as wide and well-lit, so no claustrophobia conquered me there. But what I met at the end of the hall was much more impressive than my little adventure.

A large hall met me at the end of the tunnel. The room was vast and incredible, and there was no way I'd be claustrophobic in here. The hall was several metres high, and its size reminded me of some kind of grand hall in medieval castles in movies. Perhaps that is what it was – all those years ago, should that book I got in the library have been true. Maybe this was the grand hall of the underground city's beautiful citadel. The hall was subject to ruin now – dust covered the ground, the stone walls worn and broken, the ceiling seemingly ready to collapse. But still, it was gorgeous, awe-inspiring.

There were an insubstantial number of torches, when you considered the enormity of the place. There were two either side of my entrance, and then – I counted – about twelve more glowing lights in corners and on edges, possibly highlighting more corridors. The rest of the room was nothing but black abyss, and I decided I should take some kind of torch across on my search so to not collide with any rubble in the dark.

I removed the torch on the right from its sconce, holding it right out at arm's length. I couldn't remember why I'd come down this way until I heard it – that sound, once again. Now I was closer I could understand what it was a little better – it was definitely a human. It was high-pitched, too, so most likely… a girl.

I listened out again, this time determined to place exactly which of these corridors the sound was coming from, because it was too far away to be taking place in this room. It was pretty sick of me to hope that the sound came again – the voice had sounded in pain. But I needed to find whoever was yelling out – maybe they could help me find Monica.

Maybe they _were _Monica.

It was a few long moments before I heard it again. The sound was coming from the right, right in the very back corner. And then I heard laughter – rough, deep laughter – and echoing footsteps. Gasping, I fixed the torch I'd stolen back into its sconce, before hiding myself in the darkness, in the corner furthest from the noises. I watched a torch emerge from the hallway, and two men exited, laughing to each other. I squinted my eyes to get a closer look at each of them. The man holding the torch was just like the other _S.O.U.L. _men I'd seen – tall, wearing a dark suit. The other man who followed him was very different – he was short but bulky, and his clothes were scruffy in comparison to the pristine suits the _S.O.U.L. _men wore. I couldn't make out their conversation – though I heard various points, like mention of paying the bulky man, a few times a girl – a prisoner – was mentioned, and I picked up Chad's name easily – it came up plenty of times. And then they were gone, down the corridor opposite to the way I'd entered.

I waited a good few minutes, just to check they weren't coming back, and then I removed the torch again, and made my way to the corridor where they were keeping this 'prisoner'.

It was a good job I brought the torch with me, because the corridor where the prisoner was being kept was jet-black, and it was only slightly wider than the entrance one that Chad and I had came through. This one was short, too – I was able to stand easily, but Chad would've needed to crouch. I was pretty shocked upon reaching the end that I'd made it to a prison cell without a hitch – there was no guard for this prisoner, no traps (that I set off, anyway) - but when I arrived at the end of the tunnel and entered the prisoner's cell, I realised why.

A large, metal weight took up half of the room, on the right. From the weight, three chains were attached – they shined, reflecting my torch fire.

The prisoner gasped at my entrance – maybe she thought her torturers had returned. It was this moment when I got a better look at her. Two of the chains attached to the weight were wrapped around her wrists, while the larger one was squeezing her chest.

She kept her face down, but I could make out certain facts about her. She was about my size, my height, and probably my weight. Her clothes were torn and bloody – so she'd probably been down here a long time, and was in a lot of pain. Her skin, even in this light, was much darker than mine, but it was decorated with marks and cuts and bruises – up her arms, her legs – both of which were not disguised well, since she was wearing a short T-shirt and jeans that must have been torn. Her hair, which was curtaining her face, was ebony black. It was knotted and stuck out in all manner of crazy ways – another confirmation that she hadn't left this room in ages.

Dark skin, black hair… all this added up to confirm my beliefs. I dropped the torch on the floor carefully, before rushing over to the girl. "Hey…" I said softly, and this seemed to calm her down as she stopped shaking. I supposed I didn't sound like either of her attackers - not the gruff, unfriendly tone of the scruffier man, or the smooth, deep tone of the _S.O.U.L. _man_. _Her head kept down, though, and so I had to gently hold her chin and lift her head so she'd look at me.

Just like I'd recognised Chad from the book cover on the night we'd met, I could recognise the girl in front of me in a flash of time. Despite the bruises adorning her cheeks and forehead and a large cut along her chin that made her flinch when I accidentally touched it, she was the same pretty girl that I'd spent so long reading about that I knew enough of her story to write a book (or fan fiction...) about.

I smiled as I whispered her name, delight colouring my tone. "Monica."

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**A/N: WHEEEEEE SHE FOUND MONICA :P Lisa, feelin' bad now? :P And yes, I managed to squeeze 'short stack' in there. *does a little happy dance* Paraphrasing the great CDC, I do miss short stack. :P**

**So, here's where things are gonna get complicated. And not just with _S.O.U.L. - _I'm sure you're all wondering what'll happen with that Sonny-Chad-Monica love triangle, huh? :D  
**

**I'll see you all soon! My exams start, officially, next Monday, and they'll continue for a month or so. But I still hope to write in any spare moments! :D**

**Don't forget to review on your way out ;D**

**~Amy x**


	12. Monica

**A/N: Thank you thank you thank you guys! I loved every single review I got and I'm glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter! :)**

caramel29** - Aww, thank you! That's an awesome compliment :)**

Guest** - Yes, I've mentioned before - this story is loosely based on the book **_The Vampire Stalker_** - I just borrowed the premise of the boy leaving a book! ;) **

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**Lost Soul**

**Chapter 12 - Monica**

When I said her name, Monica flinched away from my grasp again. Her eyes seemed duller than I'd imagined them, but this was possibly due to her imprisonment. I know I'd be driven insane if I were ever captured and placed in a tiny room like this. Obviously she didn't recognise me, so my dream those few nights ago where she'd magically spoken to me hadn't been her communicating with me in some supernatural way. Huh. So I _was_ nuts after all**.**

"Who are you?" She asked me; her voice croaked. I guessed she was thirsty and so dug around in the pack to find a water bottle. I held it out to her.

"Here."

"How do you know my name?" She demanded.

"Drink."

"_Tell me." _She scowled. Attempting to be friendly, I smiled at her, "It's a long story." I sighed, "I came here with Chad, and-,"

"You know Chad?" At this, she noticeably perked up, before returning to her shell again, "How can I be sure that I can trust you?"

I tried to come up with an answer but nothing formed, "You just _have _to." I finally said, "I'll explain everything when we get out, but first you _need _to drink."

I didn't have to insist anymore. Obviously Monica's sense of survival took over as she swiped the bottle from my hands, taking in large gulps. I worried she'd be sick, but she seemed to hold it back. I spotted a meagre display of food on the floor a few feet away – a crusty roll of bread and a rotting apple. This was her supply of food? I shuddered.

"You hungry?" I asked her, and she nodded, not bothering to hide herself from me anymore. I found a chocolate bar that I'd been saving in the bottom of the pack, next to some ice to stop it from melting, and passed it to her. She grinned, seeming ten years younger at the sight of such tasty food. Monica had a newly formed bruise on her forehead – it was bright red and angry-looking – and so I wrapped the ice in a napkin and placed it on the bruise. Monica gobbled down the last chunk of chocolate, wiping her mouth messily with the back of her hand. I cringed as I noticed yet another bruise on her palms, scars on her wrists where the chains had imprinted themselves. "Got anymore food?" She asked. I didn't blame her. If that awful supply of food was her usual ration, then I didn't doubt how starving she must've been.

I checked in my pack and found an apple – fresh and red. I handed it to her, and she grinned, before snorting ironically.

"When they first found out that I love apples, they promised that they'd bring me one every day, if they had a spare. _An apple a day keeps the doctor away, _they'd say. It was rotten, of course." She then smile again, "It's good to see edible food again."

I was glad to see her talking to me like some kind of friend. Hopefully, if we grew a little close, she'd feel better about me helping her escape. She'd trust me more. And then I could get her back to Chad.

"How long have you been down here?" I asked her, sitting next to her, cross-legged.

"Who knows?" She sighed, fiddling with one of the chains that bound her – the largest one, which was around her waist. "It's hard to keep track of time in this dump." It was at this point when I noticed the blood stains underneath the chain. There was no doubt in my mind that there were scars and bruises under her T-shirt, around her waist. I then realised how much pain she must be in.

"Are you hurt?" I asked her, and she nodded. Once again, Monica's sense for survival was greater than her sense of pride, as she had no problem with admitting the pain she was in. I wasn't so stupid that I hadn't noticed her pain before she told me, but I just needed the excuse to get out the first aid kit in my pack and start working on as much as I could. I felt pretty useless as I got out a bandage and then realised I had no idea where to start.

"We need to get you out," I concluded, deciding that anyone – maybe even Chad – would be a better doctor to her than I would be. Monica just snorted.

"Good luck with that." She groaned, holding up her bloodied wrists with the chains snaking around them, choking them. I flinched pathetically at the sight.

"Is there a key?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Most likely." She gestured to the large weight, where the three chains were attached there by three padlocks. "Where there's a lock, then there must be a key." Monica added.

I considered this, wondering who would be holding on to the keys. Would one of the rooms down this hallway that led me here hold the keys to her freedom? Maybe a guard was in one of the rooms. I gulped, wondering if he could hear us. I decided not – he would've come out to get me by now if that was the case.

"Is there a guard to your cell?" I asked her, in much more hushed tones this time, just in case of the presence of the guard. "Have you ever seen him? Does he have a key on him? Any keys?"

She just bowed her head, shaking it slowly. "Sorry," She whispered, "I'm usually asleep when anyone comes to bring me something. I swear they lace the food with sleeping potion or something. And whenever they come and I _am _awake… they attack me."

The thought of the cackling men exiting the hallway flashed in my mind, and I frowned. "Those men who just left your cell a few minutes ago?"

She sighed, "They're the ones."

"Would _they_ have a key?" I asked desperately.

"You're going to try and get it?" She replied, equally as anxious. She appeared shocked that I would be doing this for her. I just shrugged.

"We have to get you out. I can't leave you here – I might not be able to find you next time I come back."

"Why are you doing this?" She questioned, raising a dark eyebrow.

I inhaled, exhaled, "Let's just say I'm returning a favour."

"Favour?" She blinked, "What did Chad do?"

"He kinda saved my life." I admit, "And the life of my best friend… it's the least I can do – help him find you again."

She bit her lip, her eyes darting around nervously, "Did he miss me?" She muttered.

Something coiled in my chest, "Well, he's barely rested since I met him. He's been so determined to find you."

Her eyes lit up at that. "You can admit," She started with a chuckle, "He can be an ungrateful, unfriendly jerk at times… but his loyalties are unbelievably strong."

"Yeah." I agreed, before adding quietly, "For someone who's so secretive himself."

She mumbled a "Hmm."

We sat in silence for a few seconds. Feeling worthless while my knees began to ache, I rocked myself up onto my knees, then to my feet. "I'm going to try and find a key." I decided. She gasped, her eyes widening at me.

"No, it's dangerous."

"Staying here doesn't seem too safe either." I retorted.

"So… so go find help!" She stammered, "Find Chad, he could-,"

"Monica, I might not be able to find you again."

"Not if you leave a trail." She suggested.

I had already left a trail, admittedly. And Chad would probably be expecting me back. I checked my phone. Yup. The exact time we'd decided to meet up.

He was gonna kill me.

But not if I came back with Monica.

"I'm finding that key." I finally said, turning on my heels.

"Wait!" Monica stage-whispered, as if she'd wanted to yell but then remembered now was neither the time nor the place. "You've left the torch."

I cast my eyes over to the torch, flickering away on the floor a few feet away from us. "I'll leave it here." I decided, "You need it more than I do – I'll be easily detectable with that thing." I shoved any thoughts of the darkness and those skinny corridors into pockets in my brain, my thoughts focussed clearly on rescuing Monica.

"Wait!" She called me back again.

"Yeah?"

She gave me a small smile, her eyes tired but pleasant. "I didn't ask your name."

I returned her smile gently, "It's Sonny."

"Sonny," She sighed gratefully, "Thank you."

I flashed her one last grin, hoping it would inspire her while I was gone. "Don't worry. I'll be back as soon as I can find something to help. You take whatever you want from that bag – don't worry about me."

"Sonny?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful." She warned.

"I'll be fine." I vowed, "Promise."

And then I left her alone.

I wished that I didn't have to leave her – if I lost her and couldn't find her again; if Chad found out I'd had her and then I'd lost her… the thought pained me more than I could say. I didn't want to let her, or Chad, down. I was too close to success now just to let it be swept away from me.

Upon exiting the hallway to Monica's prison I found a small pile of pebbles on the floor. I considered them for a minute, and then I came up with a plan to help me locate the correct path. I gathered the little pebbles in my hand, and then I pressed one after the other into the sandy, weak walls. I hoped my little sign wouldn't cause suspicion from any passers-by, and was pretty impressed with my work when I pressed the final pebble in, forming an 'M' shape right underneath a torch's sconce. I considered taking the torch for myself, before remembering the reasons I'd left the torch with Monica – not only did it give her some healthy light, but it would stop me from being detected. So I dropped that thought.

I then considered my options. Where could I go now? I tried to gather my bearings, pick up where I'd come from earlier and where I should go now. The last time I'd been in this hall was about five minutes ago, maybe ten. But it felt like a whole hour. Finally meeting with Monica had kind of hit me hard.

_"Did he miss me?" _Her words rang in my head; that sweet, curious voice. _Did he miss me? _That could only confirm that _she'd _missed _him. _I didn't let that hurt me though – what had I told myself, over and over again? No emotional attachments. Not in the field of _love _anyway. _Remember? _I warned myself, mentally slapping myself back into sense, _They'll be going home soon, anyway. Then you'll never see either of them again. _

Well. At least I'd get to finish the book, finally. I _was _tired of avoiding online spoilers.

I eventually decided that the best idea would be to follow the men who had left here those few minutes ago – the ones who had accidentally given me the hint on where Monica was. Something bubbled inside me – a fear that there weren't just those two guys, but maybe dozens – hundreds? – more. I shuddered, reaching for a water bottle before remembering I'd left it with Monica. _Damn. _I'd just have to survive without it.

I crept along the walls like some kind of lizard. I remained pretty much fixed to them, following along them like a blind person. My eyes were always on the doorway to the path that I needed to go down, which was lit by three torches as oppose to the usually two on each side – as well as those two, there was one above the doorway, the flames dancing much brighter than the others. Maybe this suggested something about this hallway – maybe that it led to the main rooms? I swallowed back any fear.

I began to wonder what Chad must be up to. It was around about ten, fifteen minutes ago, that our alone time ran out and we were supposed to meet up in the entrance tunnel. I didn't really want to turn back now – I had a plan (well, a wisp of one). I didn't want to abandon it for _Chad. _And once I had completed my self-given mission and got Monica back, safe and sound, his anger at me would surely evaporate and he'd be grateful to have Monica back.

_Did he miss me? _Of course he did. Thinking of it exhausted me. He'd spent the last few days searching for clues, ideas, and leads. Non stop. And now he'd have her back and he'd be over the moon. And then he'd be gone with her.

I tried to not allow these thoughts about Monica and Chad to sound bitter, but I was a little too late. I told myself off for it. Didn't I _love_ these two as a couple? Of course I did! I had all the way through the book, so far. So what was I doing being bitter about it? Why was the real world any different to a book?

I heard shouting down the hallway – not angry shouting, more like the shouting of drunken men – and bit my lip, as if that would stop any sounds coming out. I didn't want them realising that I was infiltrating their lair.

I tried to count the voices yelling at each other. Three? Four? Five? It wasn't too bad. But what if they were just the guards? Just the frontline I must face on my quest against the army? I didn't doubt for a second that Chad's uncle had way more than just _five _men. I wondered, for a moment, if those two men I'd seen earlier were in that room, too.

I continued to creep along the hallway, feeling the walls for any signs of hidden doors, key holders. I know I was being overly hopeful, and my efforts did end up fruitless. I was, however, lucky on the front that not one of the men heard my clumsy tumbling around – too drunk to notice, I thought to myself carelessly. Maybe even too drunk to _hear. _Or maybe was I being too casual with this assumption of their intoxication. Maybe I had to give my spy-skills more credit.

The end of the tunnel was well lit. I tried to peek around the corner of my hiding spot – there was nothing to the left but an old-looking door, but as I poked my head around the wall to check the right-side, I was able to count the five men that I'd guessed before. The five of them were sat around a table, laughing, and playing some kind of card game, it seemed. There was alcohol, like I'd guessed, but judging by the number of bottles on the table, they all seemed to be on their first, maybe second, bottle. So maybe they weren't that drunk. _Crap, _I thought to myself shortly. There went my plan of sneaking past the intoxicated men undetected.

I recognised the two men from earlier – they were sat with their backs to me. But I was sure it was them. I wondered if either of them had Monica's keys on them. I seriously hoped not.

I turned back to the door to the left of my viewpoint, considering my chances for a bit. Would the door lead me anywhere? Anywhere useful, specifically? Maybe it was some kind of corridor to somewhere a little more useful. I didn't know if I wanted to risk being seen by the men, though. Surely, in stepping out from my hiding spot, I'd be noticed by one of them, at least. And then what would I do? Fight them? I severely doubted I'd be able to do that. One feeble sixteen year old against all those men. The bulky guy from earlier probably scared me the most – I felt that kind of dark aura radiating off of him, warning me away - like he _enjoyed _people's pain. For the first time, I wished Chad was here to dote on me.

Something cracked behind me. I gasped, before biting my lip to disallow any sounds to come from my mouth and alert any of my hunters of my presence – because, clearly, I had a hunter. I wanted to run the opposite way to the sound, but that would've been stupid on my part – running away from the arms of (supposedly) one man into the arms of five. Maybe I had more of a chance of taking down this man. And if he alerted the others to my presence, at least I'd have a split second to make my move. I was smaller than all of them – I hoped that meant faster. I was also younger. Surely that would come to my advantage, should the need arise? I was hardly fit, but maybe...

Making a snap decision, I grabbed one of the lights from the sconce to my side, holding out into the tunnel, ready to warn away my stalker. I gulped. Maybe he knew who I was. Maybe he was furious I was here, ready to take me down.

He rounded the corner and I knew straight away that he was indeed infuriated.

_"Sonny!" _

Chad hissed, charging towards me as quietly as he could. He grabbed the wrist of my arm that wasn't holding the torch, squeezing it tightly. I held back a whimper, reminding myself that I'd been hoping for Chad's arrival only a few seconds ago. His help would be greatly appreciated – well, if I could convince him to listen to what I had to say before he attempted to kill me first.

"What the _hell, _Sonny?" He almost growled. His eyes were sparkling, reflecting the torch's light, making them twice as wide and twice as scary. "Are you _trying _to give me a heart attack? Seriously, it's bad enough I've lost _Monica _– if I'd lost you too-,"

"Well now you have us _both _back." I breathed, almost smug for finding her. The shock on Chad's face was almost humorous, widening his eyes further.

"What?" He snorted.

"I found her!" I whispered, smiling, "I know where she is!"

"What? Where?" And suddenly he was hopeful. Hopeful and happy. _Did he miss me? _Definitely.

...That response was far too sour for my liking.

"She's in a tunnel, somewhere. A little room. She's attached to some kind of weight; these chains are wrapped around her chest, her wrists. But she's okay, she's alive! I left her with some food… she's gonna be okay. We just need to find her key."

In hearing what he had to do, Chad set himself, ready. "Where is the key?" I shrugged, disappointed in myself. Chad didn't seem too disappointed in me, though, which warmed my heart a little. He walked past me, poking his head around the corner. He snorted as he turned back to face me after watching them for a few seconds. "Don't worry," He smiled, "I've got this."

"Of course you do," I muttered sarcastically, grinning back. He gave me a slight wink before casually strolling out into the room. I backed up a few steps into the shadows, ready to make a run for it should the run be required.

I heard Chad's loud voice – falsely cheerful – and then the men's confusion, and then shouting. I could almost feel the delivered punches and kicks and bit my lip while thinking that Chad may be getting hurt. I could see their shadows fighting, and I let out a gasp when I heard a painful cry from Chad's voice. But any fears I had that he was losing his battle were rapidly eradicated as the voices moaning in pain were swapped to the enemies. I heard a jingle and a thump as someone tumbled to the floor, and in a second Chad's head was around the corner and he chucked me something small and cold before he returned to his battle. The only thing he did was smile before he disappeared again.

I looked down into my hands, and a small smile slipped onto my mouth as I realised what they were – keys. Monica's keys. That's why Chad was smiling. He wanted me to get to Monica, right now.

"Get her!"

The deep voice shocked me into movement. I swirled around and dashed away, my breathing harsh as I heard the padding footfalls behind me, only for them to stop. I grinned between my breaths. _Thank you, Chad. _

I was pretty surprised at how quickly I found the main hall again. My memories of the hall came back to me straightaway, and I sprinted straight for Monica's tunnel, ignoring the darkness encasing me. I protected the little silver key that was pressed inside my closed fist, probably engraving a temporary marking into my skin, but I didn't really care. My focus was on getting the key back to Monica in time, so we could escape. No doubt someone would call for reinforcements or something; Chad's fight did sound pretty loud. The image of him fighting still scarred me – it just didn't feel right for someone like him to have that power, that strength. I didn't think he had the appearance of a weak, helpless, fragile person – but he was no monster, either.

I tripped a couple of times on my way to the tunnel, but never fell. I'd been able to locate the right tunnel without difficulty - so my little 'M' shape hadn't really been needed. I then made my way down the tunnel, the light at the end of it spurring me on. My heart was thumping and I was so thirsty – I hoped that Monica hadn't drunk all of my water by the time I got back. When I reached Monica's prison, she was sat, smiling at my arrival. I couldn't speak very well (damn my uselessness and inexperience in sports) but I held out the key and she knew what it was immediately.

"We need to get going." I breathed, "Think you can run a bit?"

She smiled mischievously, "Just try and stop me."

Racing to her side, I unlocked her chains at both her wrists, and then the one around her waist. I slung my pack on my back, grabbed her wrist, and ran, dragging her along behind me. She was clearly weak and her legs seemed to struggle in pumping herself along, but she was obviously strong-willed and she didn't ask to stop until we were out of the main hall and on our way to the entrance tunnel.

"Hold on, where's Chad?" She yelled to me, and I began to panic myself.

"I'm sure he'll be fine – we'll run into him somewhere. We just need to get out and hide!"

I was proud of myself for escaping the dreaded entry tunnel without a light, without comfort, without a moment's pause. I could've cheered when we met daylight, and it looked like Monica could've too. She sank to her knees for a moment, her eyes sparkling in the daylight with tears. They were sparkling now - no longer dull, like they had been in the tunnels. They were sparkling, with tears, yes, but also with immense joy. I really felt for her – I had no idea how long she'd been underground, and she probably didn't either. But I couldn't let her stay on the floor like that, where she could easily be snatched back and taken away. Taking her hand, I gently helped her to her feet, knowing exactly where we would hide until Chad joined us.

"Sonny?" She said to me sweetly.

"Yeah?"

In the light, I could see how bright her smile was. "Thank you," She said.

"You're welcome." I said, and I couldn't help smiling back.

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**A/N: Please review, guys! :D**

**~Amy x**


	13. Reunion

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for all your lovely reviews, again :D I'm glad you're all enjoying the story. I've finished with my exams now *whoo* so hopefully updates will be more frequent. I have like, three months time on my hands :P**

**I don't own Sonny with a Chance :) **

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**Lost Soul**

**Chapter 13 - Reunion**

We arrived at my hiding spot, and I grinned. Here it was – my little log I'd hid in before, where I'd waited for Chad to return from his fight with the two _S.O.U.L._ guards. I crawled into the log, rolling myself into a sort of ball by holding up my knees and tucking in my head a little bit. I shuffled over, giving Monica some space to hide too, and she copied what I had done – well, maybe she struggled a bit more. Understandable. She was just a couple of inches taller than me, and she was exhausted.

"How are you feeling, then?" I asked her gently, whilst rooting around in the pack for a bottle of water to quench my long-lasting thirst. I was glad to find that Monica hadn't gulped down every last drop from both of the bottles – one bottle was empty, but I had drank out of that one as well as Monica, and the second one was half full. I took a few grateful gulps.

"I'm okay, I guess," she said while I drank, "Thanks for all the food. And water."

"Don't worry about it," I replied with a satisfied smack of my lips when I removed the bottle from my lips, smiling at her. She willingly returned the smile. I was glad to see that giving her the food for energy had had the desired effect. Her eyes were brighter, her smile was clearer, and I could just see that the snacks had given her enough strength for her to last a little while. Maybe if she got some sleep in the back of my car on the way home, she'd feel even better.

I suddenly reached a predicament and panicked. Home.

_Mom_.

There was no doubt in my mind now that my mother knew that I had been lying about going to Tawni's last night. I was fairly certain that, by now, Mom would have called Tawni, asked where I was, only for Tawni to shoot the question back in her direction, and for them both to comprehend that I had lied to them both. And that meant that I presumably had two very angry women to greet when I returned to L.A.

Crud.

Their pending anger wasn't my only problem either; what was I supposed to do with Monica if/when we did get home without _S.O.U.L._ capturing/Mom and Tawni killing me? I couldn't ask Mom if another total stranger could stay with us – she was still pulling those strings to get Chad out of our apartment.

I considered my options for a minute, before deciding on a plan. What if Chad and Monica slept in my car tonight? Mom wouldn't see them, so she wouldn't know of Monica's existence, and with Chad out of the way I could claim that he was spending the night with his parents; attempting to smooth the rough edges, deciding whether or not moving in with them would be the right idea. Mom would be ample pleased by that excuse. Meanwhile, Chad would be hiding in my car with a total stranger.

I mentally sighed. Worth a shot.

I turned to talk to Monica, explain my plan, but she looked weary. Not ill, exactly, just… worn out. She yawned, her mouth opening wide like the jaws of a sleepy cat. The stream of bad breath that followed was agonising and pretty foul, though I wasn't going to complain – I doubted Monica would have been allowed to brush her teeth in her little prison; doubted she was given the luxury. Not a necessity, not a problem, seemed to be _S.O.U.L.'s _motto for their prisoner. I suggested to myself that, while _S.O.U.L._ clearly had orders to keep Monica alive, they had no such orders to keep her presentable.

"You tired?" I asked her stupidly, like you would to a yawning baby. I bet that Monica was irritated by my immature tone, and I disliked myself for it, but Monica didn't reply snappily. She just nodded.

"Sleeping on rocks and sand is hardly luxury," She replied. The decoration in her tone was almost… spite? It was the kindest and sleepiest spite I'd ever heard. She was soon to sleep after this – I didn't think it was a bright idea to keep her awake as we'd probably need the energy to make a dash for it when Chad arrived. I decided, once she was soundly asleep, that I should leave the hiding spot and be on lookout for Chad. I wasn't sure whether or not it was bright to leave Monica all on her own, but I was (mostly) certain that she wouldn't be spotted by a _S.O.U.L. _man – not before I was, anyway. Plus, now that Monica was out and safe, keeping Chad safe was my next priority, and I couldn't really do that with no clear view of him.

I arrived back at the entrance tunnel to the _S.O.U.L. _lair, glancing around for any suitable hiding spot that I could use to my advantage. I identified one of the larger trees as the one that we hid the guards that ambushed us up, but I couldn't see either of our ambushers up on the branches anymore. They'd probably escaped; gone back into the lair to track Chad and I down. The tree was too tall for me to use as a lookout post, I decided – it'd take too long for me to climb up or down, and I wouldn't really have a decent view from up there either, what with all the branches and prickly leaves in my way. So I settled for hiding behind that thick tree's broad trunk.

I grabbed my phone that I'd placed in my pocket (I left the pack for Monica to do with what she wished), slapping in a desperate message to Chad, asking him where he was, what was going on, if he would be on his way out any time soon. I wasn't sure if he'd be in a suitable position to reply, but that didn't matter – if he got the message, maybe he'd hurry up a little bit. I was getting tired and restless and I knew that my mother was already going to kill me, and as much as I didn't want to face her, dragging my inevitable punishment out was futile. I was perplexed as to why Mom hadn't texted me already – an angry message of accusations and questions and fury. I swallowed at the thought of it. There was no way Chad would be allowed to stay around anymore, especially if Mom found out the truth – that I had been with him rather than Tawni last night. And even if she didn't, I'd probably still be grounded indefinitely. Great.

Chad didn't text back, so I'd been right about him not being able to at this moment in time – he wouldn't ignore me unless he had a good reason for it. I spent a good few minutes in a twofaced argument with myself as to whether I should leave my post and enter the cave to go searching for him or remain in my lookout position. I wasn't of much help here, but I supposed that running in and getting lost was hardly going to help either.

In the end, my help wasn't needed. Chad emerged from the cave alone about fifteen minutes after I sent my text. He had a small red bump under his lip that I assumed would become a nasty shade of purple soon, and a couple of bruises were beginning to form up his arms, too. He rolled down the sleeves on his shirt, conscious that I was staring at his arms. I blushed inattentively.

The phone in Chad's pocket bleeped. He retrieved it, read the received text for a few seconds, and then looked up at me with a smirk forming at the corner of his lips. He carelessly chucked the phone my way and I caught it clumsily, reading the received text. It was from me. He'd only just received it.

"You expect me to receive a text in a cave, Sonny?"

I did feel very stupid for not thinking of this, until something else dawned on me.

"So how are you receiving a text _now_, out in the middle of nowhere, hmm?" I brandished my own little smirk, proud of myself for the logic. Chad shrugged.

"Maybe _S.O.U.L. _have their own Internet connection or something."

I snorted, "So how did you not receive my message down there?"

The pride in Chad's face was disappearing. I was winning. "I don't know, Sonny," He replied, exasperated, "Ask _them _how their Internet works."

I almost felt bad for talking to Chad like this – like I'd said something to a friend or celebrity that was intended to be sarcastic and funny, but ended up genuinely hurting them. But Chad was tougher than that.

"Where's Monica?" He asked.

"Don't worry, I know where she is." I replied, almost excited for their reunion. Excited… and a little something else, too. But I wasn't going to dwell on that. I remembered that thousands of fans would kill to watch what I was about to, firsthand, and so I decided to just appreciate my luck.

Luck. I was_ lucky_.

I led Chad to our hiding spot, where Monica still was resting. As a passing thought, I asked him if he'd taken down all of the men. He simply explained that they weren't going to be a problem, and so I didn't feel the need to investigate further on the subject.

When we did reach Monica, her brown eyes were open – they appeared lazy and I wasn't sure if she was really paying attention or not, but she clearly could see as both, as she smiled kindly when I appeared from behind the trees, and then emerged from the log and rose to her feet when Chad appeared. She didn't seem to acknowledge me as she pushed towards Chad and wordlessly wrapped her arms around his neck. Silent, he held her, his face emotionless and stoic, but his eyes warmer. He mouthed a _thank you _to me, before the silence and absence of communication continued for at least half an hour; Chad and Monica holding each other silently, while I looked on.

The journey back to my car was only a little bit more talkative than those first thirty minutes. Chad was mainly focussed on relocating the car, which didn't seem a problem for him. I was surprised at his ability to remember all of this stuff – every tree, branch, and leaf looked exactly the same to me. Chad seemed to know exactly where we were, though, without the need for a map or anything. I was pretty sure, by now, that Chad was somehow superhuman, in many different ways.

So, since our human compass was occupied with a task, the only communication that really occurred was between Monica and I. We conversed as often as we could, though we were hardly as talkative as I'd hoped for. All the questions I'd been dying to ask Monica for months vanished from my mind, and instead I could only think about stupid questions like how she was feeling and what her imprisonment had been like (what did I even expect the answer to that to be? Did I anticipate her to say it had been jolly?).

We arrived at the car about two o'clock in the afternoon. It would take us another hour, at the very least, to get home again, and I was already anticipating my mother's imminent punishment. In fact, now that I was back in civilisation, I anticipated a bleep to rise above the noise of the zooming of the cars along the highway. I did receive a text, but it wasn't from my Mom – rather, from Tawni.

_Sonny, I'm still mad at you._

Another bleep.

_Sonny, are you there?_

_..._

_Silent treatment, eh? Okay, I can play…_

_..._

_…Hey, Sonny? Okay, I'm not mad, you can stop now._

There was even a hasty little voicemail, where she'd whined at me for not calling her or texting back. I felt like an awful friend, and so sent her a text apologising, and saying that I'd slept in and my phone had died in the night, so I'd only just charged it and received her texts. I realised that I was lying again, and so felt like an even suckier friend. What was I trying to achieve, deceiving the ones I cared about? It wasn't like Tawni wasn't going to find out the truth soon – I'd have to explain why I was grounded (because my grounding, as I've said, was fairly certain) soon enough. Perhaps it was better to rip the bandage off now than soak it for a while, but I was too big of a coward to put this to the test, though, so I wasn't proved right or wrong. I just sat there in the driver's seat. Speculating thoroughly.

When I wasn't pondering how high I was on the scale of awful-people, I was listening to Chad and Monica speaking in the back seats of my car. Now he wasn't focussed on a task, Chad's main concern seemed to be questioning Monica endlessly on everything that had happened in the last few days she had been imprisoned for. I felt awful for the poor girl – waves of questions hit her, and she was being knocked off her feet. I recalled the tired girl curled up in the log in the forest, and wanted to tell Chad to stop. But his attack was endless, and his questions seemed to put Monica into more of a fuss than I'd seen so far.

"Who came to see you?"

"Um, I don't know… two guys? Usually just them."

"But who _were _they? What did they look like?"

"Um… I can't remember, it was too dark…"

"Did you ever see my uncle?"

"I don't know! It was dark!"

Biting my lip, I tuned into the radio, hoping it would quieten them down. I didn't want to start talking myself, in case it made everything worse or raised more questions in Chad's mind. My method in silencing Chad appeared to work, but no more conversations came up until we reached Los Angeles and Monica began sighing in awe. She had been asleep for the past forty-five minutes, but with the deafening traffic noises and busy streets that were the total opposite of the miles of empty land we'd crossed so far, she was bound to be awoken.

"L.A.'s just as cool as I thought it would be." She breathed, fascinated. "Can't believe I've never come here before; well, back in my world, anyway. I live so close. You live here?" She said, directing the query to me.

"Yeah," I said, "I used to live in Wisconsin, but we moved here a little while back."

"Why?"

I swallowed. That wasn't a topic I wanted to dwell on right now, "We just… needed a new start. I live with my Mom, not far from here. We're gonna go there while we figure out a way to get you guys home."

"What about your Dad?" was the only thing she could think to reply with. The worst thing she could've replied with. I bit my lip harder than I had already, tasting a hint of metallic blood that made me stop.

"Not around now." I said gruffly. Monica seemed to get the point. I wanted to apologise after, for my harsh tone, but it wasn't the right time anymore. Monica was interested in her surroundings again, taking in everything around her. Monica lived, in the book, in a small town a few miles from Los Angeles, which was why she and Chad and come out into this dimension around this area, I guessed. How we would get them back into _their _universe, though… well, I had no clue. I was saving those problems until the moment in which they would be necessary to think about – when we'd found Monica and were ready to send them both home. That time had come faster than expected, and so now I had no plan for sending them back and so would have to spend more time with them. Not that this was a bad thing; not really. I reminded myself that girls my age would kill to be in my shoes at this moment.

To be honest, in more ways than one, I envied them in the same way that they would envy me.

We arrived back in my neighbourhood ninety minutes after leaving the forest. I checked the time and cringed, terrified. Mom was _really _going to kill me.

I had a plan all thought out, though. I told Chad and Monica to stay in the car.

"Why?" Chad asked. It was the first time he'd talked since we arrived in Los Angeles.

I visibly winced, "I don't think my mom's gonna be very happy."

"Why not?" Chad blinked, while Monica frowned, empathetic.

"Well, I told her that I was going to Tawni's overnight…" I sighed, adding in a small voice, "knowing my overprotective Mom, she probably called Tawni earlier to check up on me and found out the truth."

"So, what do we do?" Monica asked.

"Just… stay here for a while." I told her. I passed Chad back the phone he'd chucked at me outside the _S.O.U.L. _lair. "I'll text you if it's okay to come in, but I doubt it will be. If it isn't, you're gonna have to sleep out here in my car tonight. Sorry," I said, turning to Monica, "it's hardly luxury after your imprisonment."

"Anything's luxury after that cave," Monica sighed ironically. I agreed, satisfied for now.

"I'll see you guys later," I said, before adding with a chuckle, "You know, if I'm not murdered by my mom."

Neither of my company laughed. I didn't blame them. I didn't feel like laughing so much anymore either. I left them with not so much as a goodbye smile, telling them that I hoped they would have a good night. They returned the 'good night', and Monica's was compassionate. Something rotten stirred inside me, and I quietened it.

The journey to my apartment was too quick while also being too slow. How that worked, I have no idea, but I do remember dreading arriving there and yet wanting it to be over as quickly as possible. I wasn't sure on the mood my mom would be in when I opened that door, and a tiny, naive part of my mind still hoped that Mom still hadn't caught on to the fact that I really hadn't been at Tawni's house last night. Maybe Tawni hadn't called my Mom. Maybe I was safe.

I wasn't safe.

I squeaked in panic as the door creaked open, outwardly announcing my arrival. I hoped that I'd be able to sneak into my room and pretend I'd been there for hours when Mom finally realised that I was there. A horrible deceit, I know; but I was desperate. It didn't work, anyway – Mom burst through from the kitchen to the front room the moment I stepped through the door.

I prepared myself mentally for the scolding, reminding myself that I deserved it, for all the lying. I took a deep breath, "Mom, I'm-,"

I didn't expect the next bit. Mom flung herself at me, coiling her arms around my waist and rubbing my back comfortingly. "Oh, honey, you're okay! I was so worried…"

I tasted something sickly at the back of my throat. Regret? I hated myself for leaving my mom like that. Despite our fights, she didn't deserve everything I'd put her through in the last few days. So I joined in with the nonsensical babbling. "Mom, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it; I shouldn't have left you like that-,"

For a moment, I overheard Mom's nattering over my own, "When I heard the news, I was so worried about you. I thought I'd lost you-,"

"Hold on." The sentence had shocked me out of my sobbing state for now. "The news? What happened?"

Mom swallowed, "Um, apparently, a girl has been kidnapped. Men are searching for her."

"Kidnapped?" I had a bad feeling about this, "Who's the girl?"

"They haven't said yet," Mom explained, "I was terrified that it was you, so I called Tawni and she said you hadn't been to her house last night, so I got so worried that something had happened-,"

So Mom had found out about my lie. Did she realise that it had been a lie? Maybe not. Maybe she thought I was on my way to Tawni's last night and hadn't made it to her house – had been kidnapped beforehand. There was only problem with this excuse – I wasn't the kidnapped girl.

So who was?

As if hearing my thoughts, the news jingle blurted out of our TV, and a brunette woman in her forties welcomed us to the show before opening it up with the story of the missing girl. She had been stolen from her home, the news reporter claimed, and her father had seen two figures making off with her. The anchorwoman then explained that, now that the girl had been missing for so many hours, they could show a picture. She urged anyone who had seen the girl to call a number along the bottom of the screen, and alongside the image of the anchorwoman was a photograph of the kidnapped teen.

I wondered if anyone would recognise the picture. Would look upon that face and swear that it was so familiar. I wondered if anyone was listening to this news in the background, while they read the book this girl belonged inside. I betted that any true fan would be extremely suspicious or at least remarkably impressed by the resemblance, as the picture that popped up looked exactly like a promotional picture of the girl, if a little less glammed-up than how they would have seen it before, and the girl was real rather than being just a cartoon image.

I wondered if anyone realised that a fictional girl, Monica Baxter, who belonged in a make-believe world, was claimed to be missing among them.

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**A/N: Apologies for the cliffhanger :P But don't worry; all will be revealed in due time.**

**Review, please! :)**

**~Amy x**


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